I feel sexier than ever... I've got my curves back': Cheryl Cole shows off her healthy new figure after gaining 7lbs

By Sarah Bull and Sara Nathan

Last updated at 12:29 PM on 6th December 2011

She left fans worried about her health when she dropped to a tiny size six earlier this year after battling malaria.

But now Cheryl Cole has revealed her curves are back, after gaining 7lbs in the last six months, and said she feels sexier than ever with her new figure.

Cheryl, who is now a size eight, made the admission as she showed off her new figure in a sexy sparkly blue catsuit and pink tutu-style dress in the page of Grazia magazine.

'I feel sexier than ever': Cheryl Cole shows off her curves after gaining 7lbs and getting her 'boobs and bum back'

Healthy: Cheryl has gained half a stone and looks much healthier than she did last year (right)

She said: 'The curves are back, well and truly. I’ve got my boobs and bum back and, yeah, I like it. I think it’s sexy.

'When I’m really thin is normally when I am working non-stop. I don’t put any emphasis on thinking, ‘Oh, I’m thin at the moment.’

‘Right now I’ve got my curves back because I’ve had time off, I’m at home cooking, I’m more relaxed. I’m not defined by being seven pounds heavier than I was two months ago - I think it is really unhealthy to go there.'

Extra inches: Cheryl Cole shows off her peep toes and strappy heels, which she loves for extra height

Extra inches: Cheryl shows off her peep toes and monochrome heels, which she loves for extra height

Meanwhile, Cheryl also revealed that she is such a huge fan of high heels that she owns an astonishing 2,000 pairs, adding: ‘I hoard them all over the house: in cupboards in the kitchen, in the bathroom – every room.

‘There is a big chance when you open the fridge in my house there will be a pair of shoes at the bottom.’

Read Cheryl Cole's full interview in Grazia, on sale now

The former X Factor judge, 28, said: ‘I’ve always, always loved shoes but over the past few years I’ve definitely developed a proper fetish.

'I actually own about 2,000 pairs of shoes – and that’s after giving quite a few away.’

Miss Cole, who boasts that she can walk and dance in shoes ‘of any height’, told Grazia magazine: ‘Because I’m quite small, to me getting dressed is all about the heels.

'I have a pair of Louboutins that are so cripplingly painful – but I’m trying to ease myself into them gently, wearing them for a few minutes every now and again.’

The singer, who was sacked from the X Factor USA in May dashing her Hollywood dreams, said: ‘For me, all shoes have memories - wearing them on a certain occasion like that means the shoe gets that memory.

‘If I can’t wear them again I also can’t get rid of them because they are so linked to that emotion. I’m probably a bit bonkers like that.’

She added: ‘My absolute aim is killer shoes that don’t kill your feet. I can walk in heels of any height and I can dance in them because I’ve just been doing this for so long,’ she says.

‘As a kid I was a ballet dancer and I always had really sore toes.

Setting the trend: Cheryl in a pair of leopard-print and black boots from her range at Stylistpick.com

Night on the town: The range also includes some more glamorous heels, perfect for the Christmas party season

‘I had to have them broken and re-straightened, which sorted them out.

And her shoe fetish has spanned into her work life, as the singer has designed a range of shoes for stylistpick.com.

Within her debut shoe range, two of her styles include the ‘Ri Ri’ in honour of Rihanna and ‘Byker Groove’ boots as a nod to her Geordie roots.

Read Cheryl Cole's full interview in the latest issue of Grazia, on sale now.