The music mogul told club entertainer Jacqui Gray: "Something weird happens to your voice when you sing" as she performed Labi Siffre's Something Inside So Strong for the talent show judges.

But after the 46-year-old's failed audition, screened on ITV1 at the weekend, Cowell and fellow judge Sharon Osbourne advised the mum-of-two to get her throat checked out by a doctor.

Taking up their advice Jacqui, of Galashiels Road, Grindon, Sunderland, visited her GP and medics diagnosed her with bronchiectasis, an incurable potentially-deadly lung infection.

And even though the celebrity panel crushed her dreams of stardom, she is still a fan of Cowell and Osborne for unwittingly spotting her illness.

Jacqui, who works for a city law firm, said: "I knew I had a chest infection but I had no idea it was that bad. They saved my life and I would just like to thank them.



"God knows what would have happened if I had left it any longer. It could have been much more serious."

Bronchiectasis causes irreversible damage to the bronchial tubes, which carry air in and out of the lungs.

It can cause dust, mucus and bacteria to build up in the organs, which can lead to infection and cause further damage to the bronchial tubes – and in extreme cases it can lead to premature death.

During Jacqui's audition Cowell smirked as she belted out the R and B anthem. And all four judges – Cowell, Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Danni Minogue – decided she wasn't good enough for the next stage of the competition.

But Jacqui, who will now be on steroids for life, is not going to let the critics or her illness stop her from pursuing her singing dreams.

She said: "It was a brilliant experience – a learning curve – and it's not going to stop me.

"I've already sent off the forms for Britain's Got Talent and I'm going to enter next year's X-Factor."



She will now be competing against the hundreds of other hopefuls in the next rounds. and will appear on future editions of the Saturday night show.