This is the horrifying moment Cheryl Cole collapses after being struck down by deadly malaria.

The 27-year-old slumps on to The X Factor desk during auditions hours before she was rushed to intensive care with the disease that nearly killed her.

The dramatic footage will be screened for the first time when the show returns tonight.

A source said: “We were very worried for her.” It started with a bit of banter about having a hangover…

But after slumping on to a chair, pale and exhausted, it quickly became ­apparent to her X Factor colleagues that all was not well with Cheryl Cole.

And within hours of this picture being taken, the 27-year-old talent show judge was being rushed to hospital suffering from a deadly strain of malaria.

Signs the Girls Aloud star was coming down with something began when she collapsed at the judges’ desk during auditions in Cardiff.

Resting her head on her hands, she is heard to mutter: “I don’t feel well at all.”

Simon Cowell initially teased her for celebrating her 27th birthday a couple of days earlier a little too well.

He told the cheering audience: “Cheryl’s rather ill today. She might get a bit sulky and tired if you’re not nice to her.

“She’s got the disease going around called hangover. You need to be gentle, she doesn’t want too much noise.”

Cheryl hit back good-naturedly: “I may be hungover but I have a good excuse, my birthday was two days ago.”

But Simon quickly axed the banter as she continued to struggle through the day.

Putting a protective hand on her shoulder, he asked: “Are you ill?” as she went to take a nap.

A show source added: “Everyone was so concerned about Cheryl. By the end of the day we were all very worried as she looked more and more poorly.

“We knew she had a big night or two ­celebrating her birthday, but it was pretty obvious she had more than just the hangover from hell.”

The startling images of Cheryl’s collapse will be previewed for the first time on The X Factor when it returns to ITV1 tonight at 7.30pm.

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