Boot Camp: Nicole gets Cheryl's gig

PUSSYCAT Doll Nicole Scherzinger is to replace malaria-stricken Cheryl Tweedy at X Factor's Boot Camp next week.

Nicole, 32, will help whittle down around 100 hopefuls to 24 in five days at Wembley Arena.

The girlfriend of Formula 1 ace Lewis Hamilton was picked after impressing Simon Cowell when she stood in for new mum Dannii Minogue at the show's Manchester auditions last weekend.

A TV insider said: "There was no way Cheryl was going to be able to do Boot Camp, despite being on the mend.

"Nicole was great in Manchester and Simon really likes her.

"She knows Wembley will be a tougher gig, but she's proved she's feisty and entertaining."

Cheryl, 27 - now out of hospital - is expected to be well enough to film the Judges' Houses round at the end of August.

The frail Geordie is being fattened up with hotdogs by her mum Joan Callaghan - seen heading for a supermarket yesterday - after developing a craving for them.

A source said: "She's been asking for hotdogs and onions. Her mum has a saying: 'Whatever Cheryl asks for, Cheryl gets'."

The beauty was smuggled back on Wednesday to the £6million Surrey home she shared with her estranged hubby, love-rat soccer star Ashley Cole.

Yesterday, she was visited by American dancer pal Derek Hough, who was on holiday with her in Tanzania when she caught the tropical fever last month.

The source said: "She's weak and has lost weight, and she's still going hot and cold. But she is definitely on the mend.

"She isn't bed-bound any more. She's been watching daytime TV on the sofa."

Cheryl is surrounded by flowers, including bouquets from Cowell, Girls Aloud bandmates Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts and Black Eyed Peas pal Will.i.am.

The source joked: "It looks a bit like a funeral parlour but Cheryl loves them. She's very touched."

c.robertson@the-sun.co.uk