Cheryl Cole collapses at photoshoot

Cheryl Cole has collapsed at a photoshoot, forcing her to pull out of The X Factor for the foreseeable future.

The Girls Aloud singer split from her husband Ashley Cole earlier this year following claims he had been unfaithful. She is in the process of getting divorced, but has hardly stopped working since becoming single.

The 27-year-old was posing for pictures in a North London studio on Saturday when she collapsed, with a doctor immediately called. She was diagnosed with severe exhaustion and told to rest. The star had reportedly had a high temperature and felt sick when she arrived, but had assured her team she was well enough to take part.

Minutes after starting work, Cheryl fainted. She was later found to have a gastroenteritis bug. "She should never have gone to the studio. She insisted she was fine, even though she clearly wasn`t," a friend of the star told British newspaper The Sun. "Her skin was pale and her lips had no colour. She`s rundown and tired. That`s why she ended up with the stomach virus.

"She told the photographer she`d be all right if she got her make-up on. But once she was under the lights it was clear she wasn`t well. Eventually she just keeled over. It was horrible. She was only out for a few seconds but it was enough to give everyone, including Cheryl, a massive scare."

Cheryl`s management have told bosses on talent show The X Factor, including Cheryl`s fellow judge Simon Cowell, she will need time off to recuperate. The programme is currently filming the audition round, with a number of big-name stars standing in for judge Dannii Minogue, who is too heavily pregnant to take part. Music manager Louis Walsh also sits on the panel.

It has been claimed Cheryl has been working 18-hour days since splitting from Ashley. As well as shooting The X Factor, she has toured with the Black Eyed Peas, been working on her solo album and starring in photoshoots. She is believed to have lost 7lbs since they parted ways, with her mother Joan Callaghan reportedly asking her to relax her strict diet in recent weeks.

sections: Celebrities