Cheryl Cole has reportedly told Derek Hough that she doesn’t feel ready to fall in love again.

The X Factor judge contracted malaria during a recent trip to Tanzania and has spent the last few weeks recuperating, at one point those close to her feared for her life. Cheryl has had a difficult year, which has included her illness and a separation from cheating husband Ashley Cole. She is said to be exhausted and not in the right place to embark on another relationship.

A source told Now magazine:

‘She adores Derek, she’s grateful he’s been by her side and she wants him to stick around.’

‘But she hasn’t told him she loves him and maintains she can’t have anything serious because she’s still too hurt to love anyone again for a while.’

Maybe Chezza’s decision has been influenced by the renewed contact with her estranged husband over the past few weeks.

‘Ashley was living it up in LA while the woman he’s technically still married to was in her most vulnerable state in hospital,’ a source tells Now.

‘But he’s managed to convince Cheryl that when he was out on the lash, he had no idea she was ill.

‘As soon as he found out, he became racked 
with worry and sent flowers.’