Simon Cowell helped save the life of a contestant who auditioned for The X Factor by noticing an odd rasp in her voice which was caused by a potentially fatal lung problem. The normally peevish judge commented that singer Jacqui Gray sounded like she was choking when she sang on the show, and recommended to her that she should get checked out by a doctor.

So, off she went, and after her appointment with an ear, nose and throat specialist, the 46-year-old was diagnosed with the potentially fatal lung disease bronchiectasis and was informed she could have died if she had not sought medical assistance. Gray thanked Cowell as well as judge Sharon Osbourne, who had pushed her to get checked out, and said: "I want to thank them both. I may not have got through X Factor but they gave me something much more important than that - they really did save my life."

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