Shocking images of teenager battling eating disorder after becoming obsessed with former X-Factor judge

Cheryl Cole, although slim, always looked healthy as a judge on the X Factor

At her sickest, Charlotte O' Neill, who is 5ft7in, weighed only 5 1/2 stone. She is still struggling to reach a healthy weight but is convinced she is beating her obsession



A teenage girl developed an eating disorder, losing three stone in weight after becoming obsessed with former X Factor judge Cheryl Cole.



Charlotte O'Neill decided at 15 she wanted to be as slim as Cheryl when the singer joined the show's judging panel in 2008. She skipped breakfast, cut down on her normal food portions and gave up chocolate and sweets. Within two weeks, she had lost half a stone.



'I often felt hungry and weak, but it felt like an achievement because I knew it was taking me closer to "Goal Cole",' she said.



Charlotte, who is 5ft 7in and originally weighed 8st 7lb, soon reached her target weight of 7st.

But not satisfied she continued to starve herself.



'My arms and legs didn't look dainty like Cheryl's,' she said.



Her weight continued to fall until it reached 6st at which point her PE teacher took action. Charlotte was diagnosed with chronic anorexia and admitted to hospital.



Doctors warned she was putting her heart and other organs at risk and put her on a strict meal plan.

Charlotte, from Peterborough, Cambs, then spent nine months in an eating disorders care centre, where she put on weight to reach a healthier 7st 12lb.



But after coming home and seeing Cheryl Cole on the X Factor again, the condition resurfaced and her weight fell again. This time it dropped to a shocking new low of 5st 7lb.



It was then, earlier this year, that Charlotte's mother took her on holiday to Tenerife.Just a few days before the end of the two-week trip, Charlotte claims she had a 'light-bulb moment' when her mother took her to a cafe for breakfast.



She told Love It! magazine: 'A strange feeling came over me.' She ate scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and toast.



Since then, she began to regain her weight and believes she is over her obsession. Charlotte, who is now 18 and is still struggling to bring her weight back to normal, said she is glad Cheryl is not a judge on the talent show this year.