The Girls Aloud star is reported to be heading to a £4.5 million mansion at Sandbanks that boasts five en suite bedrooms and offers gorgeous views across Poole Harbour.

Cheryl, 27, who has just returned to the UK from LA, has previously whittled down her favourite contestants to mentor in exotic Morocco and swanky Cannes, but after recovering from malaria, producers want her close to home.

Derek Hough remains in the US to work on Dancing With The Stars but it’s claimed Cheryl wants the dancer to jet across the pond to join her as an advisor and choreographer if he can fit it into his schedule.

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Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts says the nervous energy she felt when auditionning on a TV talent show comes back when she watches X Factor

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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Cheryl Cole has spoken publicly for the first time since being struck down with malaria.

The Girls Aloud singer broke her silence at the launch of this year’s The X Factor. Cheryl, 27, was in hospital for three weeks after contracting the bug on holiday.

She said: “I’m gutted I missed the last audition and boot camp stage. But I’m looking forward to seeing what Simon, Louis and Nicole have chosen.

“I can’t wait to get my category so I can get my teeth into it. What I’m looking for is a little diamond of an act you can polish.”

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X Factor judge Cheryl Cole is seen mocking Geri Halliwell for being boring at the Glasgow auditions. And insiders fear Geri will be unhappy with the footage.

The former Spice Girl was standing in for heavily pregnant Dannii Minogue at the audition stage of the show.

TV insiders have seen the first programme at an exclusive screening. A Mirror reviewer said there’s a “whole sequence of her jabbering away inanely in her fake posh voice while Cheryl pulls various bored/bitchy faces beside her”.

Judge Louis Welsh is heard saying: “Geri talks and talks. And some of it makes sense… but not all of it.”

The show features a montage sequence, which uses the Chas & Dave single Rabbit as the backing track.

Producers have also left in footage of Cheryl, who subsequently was diagnosed with malaria, saying about how she feels ill.

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Cheryl Cole made an appearance for the X Factor press launch today.

A press conference to launch the new series took place in London this morning, in preparation for the first episode on Saturday night.

Cheryl had made a video message, as she was unable to attend. In the video message, she told the waiting press that she will definitely be returning to film the ‘judges houses’ section of the show.

Yay!

What do you look for in the contestants?

The best people that walk on stage are always the people that know what they want to be and already know what style of music they want, and have an image. That’s always when I know I’ve got something good to work with. All I’m looking for is somebody that is new, that is unique, that you look at and think, ‘you have got it, you’ve got the X Factor’.

Does it get any easier saying ‘No’ to auditionees?

No, it doesn’t get easier. These kids have been preparing and rehearsing at home, and this day is like the biggest day of their lives. It’s horrible. You can see their faces and they’re saying ‘Please’ to you sometimes. I just have to keep telling myself it’s not fair to patronise them, to keep something alive that’s not working. That’s one of the hardest parts actually, because there is always someone there that reminds you that this is their dream and it’s a big deal for them. Those few minutes are massive, and telling them ‘No’ is tough.

Every time you start a new audition, do you always think this could be the place where you might find the winner?

You never know where you’re going to find just that one person who could be the potential winner, so it’s always exciting when you start at a new place. Even though sometimes the days are really long and you think there’s just nobody, there’s always that one person who pops out and you think, ‘I’ve found a star today’. And it’s exciting when you start a new day, because you just hope this is the day you find that one person you need.

How have you found siting alongside the guest judges this year?

It’s exciting having guest judges, actually more exciting because everybody sees things through fresh eyes and they give you a new buzz. You see new things and it’s just nice to have somebody different on the panel.

And with Dannii being away for auditions, it’s probably nice to still have some fellow females?

It’s lovely for me that there are other women on the panel because I couldn’t be sitting between those two miserable so and sos on my own! I love having other women with us. I don’t think I could cope with three men on the panel. Three male opinions, it would just drive me nuts!

At the London auditions, it was you on your own with Simon and Louis. How was that?

I’ll tell you what I have realised more so, is that without a girl – without Dannii or without a girl substitute – it’s actually hard work with those two because once they get on one, or they back each other up, I’ve pretty much had it. I’m in the middle of Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee!

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He’s wrapped her in cotton wool throughout her battle with malaria but Simon Cowell says it’s war once Cheryl Cole returns to X Factor.

‘It would be unbearable if she won again,’ moaned Cowell, who has seen Cole win twice in a row – first on her debut as a judge with Alexandra Burke in 2008 and then again with Joe McElderry last year.

He also admitted that he’s to blame for the pantomine surrounding his judges after endless column inches devoted to Cheryl’s heath and love life and Dannii Minogue’s baby.

‘Sometimes we have got into the habit and I’m partly responsible for this of the judges’ personalities being talked about more than the contestants,’ he said.

The 50- year-old said he’s done with sob stories and tears from show hopefuls.

‘I like it when people are honest about why they have entered. If you’ve entered because you want to get rich and famous, then that’s great. Just don’t pretend you’re doing it in memory of your dead dog,’ he told new! magazine.

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Joe McElderry hit the town for the first time since he bravely told the world he’s gay.

The X Factor winner, who was at London club Kanaloa on Wednesday night, revealed how happy he is to get everything off his chest.

Joe said: “I’ve never felt so free. The support has been overwhelming.”

It certainly has – he’s gained 20,000 more followers on Twitter since he came out two weeks ago.And it’s not just fans who are supporting him – WILL YOUNG and his mentor CHERYL COLE are too.

Will gave him a shout out during his gig last week and he’s been chatting to fellow Geordie Cheryl on the blower.

Joe added: “I didn’t go to Cheryl before I came out as she’s got enough on her plate at the moment, otherwise I would have done. She’s always there for me, always on the end of the phone.

“She’s constantly giving me advice on how to handle fame and the pressures.

“Knowing Will did that too means so much.”

The star was in high spirits all night.

He went on: “I’m very happy. I can’t wait to release my album and I’m excited about the future.”

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The Girls Aloud star – who presented a live broadcast for the 2009 ‘X Factor’ final from eventual winner Joe McElderry’s home town of South Shields – insists she is happy that Nicole Scherzinger was asked to step in and cover for her malaria-stricken bandmate during the Boot Camp stage of the competition.

She explained: “Cheryl and I have similar opinions but it’s Cheryl’s gig so it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to replace her.

“Nicole Scherzinger will be interesting to watch – it’s a good way for the public to get to know her better.”

While Kimberley had been rumoured to be taking over from the brunette beauty as she recovers from the bout of malaria she contracted last month, Pussycat Dolls star Nicole was asked to stand in after impressing music mogul Simon Cowell during her stint as a guest judge.

However, Cheryl is determined to return to work soon.

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