Cole steps out for first time since malaria battle

Singer Cheryl Cole has proved she's recovering well from malaria after making her first public appearance on Wednesday looking happy and healthy.

The Girls Aloud star was forced to take time out from her role as a judge on The X Factor after contracting the deadly disease on a trip to Tanzania in June.

Fans feared for her health after she collapsed at a photoshoot earlier this month and was admitted to the intensive care unit at a London hospital.

She was subsequently released from a private clinic to recuperate at home, with reports suggesting she was fighting to get healthy again after her weight plummeted and she became dangerously skinny.

But Cole banished claims of her frailty by facing the public for the first time on Wednesday to pick up a coffee near her home in Surrey.

Despite being dressed casually and wearing no make-up, the beauty looked radiant - and even had the energy to pose for snaps with fans.

The star's close friend and rumoured boyfriend, professional dancer Derek Hough, is allegedly living with the star at her mansion to aid her recovery.