Cheryl Cole: 'Malaria battle opened my eyes'
The 'Promise This' star was reportedly hours from death after contracting the tropical disease on a trip to Africa in the summer of 2010.
Cole has now claimed that her ill health actually fuelled some positive changes in her life and reminded her not to take loved ones for granted.
PA Images / Ian West/PA Wire
"The malaria ate away at my muscles," she told 3am. "But let's not get grim. It opened my eyes to health and things I hadn't focused on before. It's now less about work, work, work and more about making time to chill and be with my friends and family.
"I had to take good care of myself and I was told to stop exercising and to gain weight to get well. I just ate everything."
Cole, who was axed from The X Factor USA in June, also confirmed Simon Cowell's recent claim that she once turned down a judging role on Britain's Got Talent.
"The X Factor just happened, really," she said. "Simon had previously asked me to do Britain's Got Talent and I'd kind of said yes, then said no at the last minute and dropped them in it."
It was reported during the heat of the News International phone hacking scandal that Cole's voicemails were intercepted as she suffered from malaria.