Cheryl will be divorced by the time she joins X Factor as show plumbs new depths by revealing moment she was struck down with malaria

By Sarah Nathan and Paul Revoir

Free and single: Cheryl Cole will return to the X Factor at the live stage in October


Cheryl Cole will be divorced by the time she returns to The X Factor.

The star will officially be free of cheating footballer Ashley Cole when she rejoins Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh live on air in October, the Daily Mail has learned.

It will mark the end of a turbulent few months for the Girls Aloud singer, who was forced to abandon her role on the talent show after she was struck down with malaria.

But in a move that might be seen as plumbing the depths of bad taste, the moment she collapsed during auditions will be screened when the show returns tomorrow night.

An estimated 11million fans will see her lying across some chairs as she is struck down with the illness, which at one point was considered life show, it is understood that threatening.

Mrs Cole is seen telling the judges: 'I don't feel well at all. I am definitely coming down with something.' Cowell then asks her: 'Are you ill?'

She had returned from a holiday in Tanzania, Africa, with friend Derek Hough when she came down with the disease.

To tie in with her return to the Mrs Cole is in talks to reveal all about her tumultuous year in an interview on Piers Morgan's ITV show, Life Stories.

A source said: 'Piers would definitely be the person with whom Cheryl would feel comfortable discussing what has been an extremely difficult year.

'Piers does seem to have a knack of getting celebrities to open up – if you can get Simon Cowell to shed a tear, you can do anything.'

It was announced that Mrs Cole was separating from her husband Ashley in February after a series of lurid revelations about the Chelsea and England footballer's infidelity.

Last night a source close to Mrs Cole said the singer had not decided whether to give up the £6million Surrey mansion the couple shared during their three and a half year marriage, despite reports that she was selling it.

Mrs Cole, 27, yesterday spoke publicly about her battle with malaria for the first time, telling fans that she was 'raring' to get back to work.


Judges: Cheryl will rejoin Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh, while talkative guest Geri Halliwell has been humiliated for her forthright opinions


'I'm absolutely gutted I missed the last audition and the boot camp stage, but I am really excited and really looking forward to seeing what the other judges have chosen.' 'I can't wait to get my category so I can get my teeth into it. I will be raring to go.'


Divorce: Cheryl with her soon to be ex-husband Ashley Cole


Various stars stood in for Mrs Cole and Miss Minogue, who was on maternity leave during the auditions.

But while Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger was so good she won her a judging spot on the American X Factor, others were not so lucky.

Viewers will see former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell humiliated for her non-stop chatter as the judges smirk and raise their eyebrows at her stream of forthright opinions.

The show's editors have even interspersed clips of her chattering with the soundtrack to Chas 'n' Dave's song Rabbit, which includes the lyrics 'you won't stop talking, why don't you give it a rest'.

Walsh is seen saying: 'She talks and talks. Some of it makes sense.'
Audience members at the auditions in Glasgow are even said to have booed her.

Miss Halliwell, 38, tells the camera: 'I don't know if you know this, that I picked [Cheryl Cole] on Popstars: The Rivals, I was choosing between her and this other girl. It was literally a movement of the point of a finger that picked her. I feel really pleased for her.'

Cowell yesterday revealed he was looking for a 'great artist' to emerge from this series. He said: 'They have that steel in their eyes – it's charisma, personality, being unique, entertaining, all those things rolled into one.'

source: dailymail