Tulisa's life now - drug scandal, health woes, and cruel trolling over image
Tulisa Contostavlos will be back on our screens once again as part of the new series of Celebrity Gogglebox, but many of her fans might have been wondering what the 34-year-old has been up to of late.
The singer, who rose to fame in the noughties with her hip-hop band N-Dubz, was a fixture in music and television until she vanished from the spotlight for years.
N-Dubz, consisting of Tulisa, her cousin Dappy and her ex Fazer, had success with songs such as Strong Again and Number 1 with Tinchy Stryder.
The group parted ways with their record label in 2011 due to creative differences and gave their final performance together in September of that year before going their separate ways.
The band parted ways in 2011Tulisa embarked on her own solo career after the split, with songs like Young and Live It Up climbing up the charts.
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She was also picked as Cheryl's replacement on The X Factor for the eighth and ninth series of the music competition, on which she first mentored the groups category and worked with Little Mix in 2011. She then worked with the girls category in 2012.
In her second year on the show, the star's life was rocked by scandal as a sex tape featuring herself and former boyfriend Justin Edwards was maliciously leaked online.
She claims it made her feel like her "world was ending".
Speaking in her BBC Three documentary, Tulisa: The Price of Fame, she explained: "The first year [on X Factor] was a very happy time. I think it was the tape where it all went wrong for me.
"When the tape came out I felt like I had lost control again. This isn't how I wanted to be portrayed and afterward going back out there it was the thought of facing the audience, the crowd.
"Even though I was a judge, I was being judged. More than anyone, more than the contestants. The judges get judged the most.
"I just found it so hard to face people again."
She was a judge on X Factor for two years (ITV)There was more pain in store for the star as her much-hyped solo album, The Female Boss, flopped charting at number 35 and receiving scathing reviews.
And in 2013 she faced another scandal when she was arrested on suspicion of supplying class A drugs.
It was part of a sting operation by undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood - known as the Fake Sheik - and he claimed she's brokered a deal to sell him drugs while he was posing as a wealthy film producer.
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The case went to court but Tulisa's trial sensationally collapsed, with Mahmood being accused of tampering with evidence.
He was later tried on related charges and sentenced to 15 months in prison.
After the charges against her were dropped, Tulisa, who always denied the drug charges, later said: "Let me be perfectly clear, I have never dealt drugs and I have never been involved in taking or dealing cocaine.
"This whole case was a horrific and disgusting entrapment by Mazher Mahmood."
Tulisa in 2012 (Getty Images)
Things got worse for the singer in 2013 (PA)Later in 2013, Tulisa headed back to court after being accused of attacking blogger Vas J Morgan in a bust-up at V Festival in Essex in 2013. She claimed the TOWIE star had insulted her mentally ill mother.
She was convicted of assault and ordered to pay a £3,000 fine. She later lost an appeal against the conviction.
Following the dramatic few years, she took a step back from the spotlight and was rarely seen aside from a few guest appearances on The X Factor and a brief attempt at re-launching her solo career in 2016.
Tulisa's most high-profile work during her time off was a long-running legal battle against music stars will.i.am and Britney Spears, who she accused of denying her a writing credit on their hit 2012 track Scream and Shout.
She claimed to have co-written the song for The Female Boss, but dropped it from the listing and will.i.am later re-jigged it for his Britney collaboration.
Tulisa won the case in 2018 and was given an official credit on the record and 10 percent of the publishing rights and income.
During her time off she was still posting regularly on Instagram from Los Angeles, which is how her fans knew another music comeback was coming in 2019, as they saw snaps of her in the studio.
In April 2019 Tulisa released her first single in three years which was called Daddy and then another single, Sippin came out two months later. She also performed various gigs that year, including Manchester Pride.
Tulisa appeared on Loose Women to talk openly about her condition which she said has completely altered her face (ITV)In 2020 during an appearance on Loose Women, the star revealed health woes, revealing that she had Bell's Palsy.
The condition is a type of paralysis that temporarily affects the ability to control the facial muscles and Tulisa says she was diagnosed after sustaining nerve damage due to a horse riding accident.
As such, she's received cruel trolling over her appearance over the last few years.
"I do suffer from Bell's Palsy. The first time was after a serious hore rising accident and it caused nerve damage," she said.
"There's been times people have criticised the way I look and my face, not knowing I'm going through a Bell's Palsy attack.
"Someone online said I looked like I was having a stroke. I have emergency steroids on me and I know how to handle it."
She added: "Some of the worst comments would be too harsh for daytime television. The worst things you can say about women."
Later in 2020, Tulisa spoke out after Former X Factor contestant Misha B said she experienced racism on the show.
Misha B claimed Tulisa and fellow judge Louis Walsh accused her of bullying other contestants backstage while giving feedback on her performance.
Tulisa said she regretted calling the fellow singer out so publicly and would never do anything like that today, but denied that what she did was motivated by race.
N-Dubz are back together (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Most recently, she has reunited with her N-Dubz bandmates to get the group back together.
In May 2022 the trio announced new music and a tour across the UK and Ireland, and tickets sold out in minutes.
The tour has faced a few challenges after a show in Nottingham was postponed last minute and fans were furious.
However, other fans have had great experiences, with one couple getting engaged on stage and sending a 15,000-strong crowd wild.
Tonight (June 16) the former X Factor judge will be back on our screens as part of the Celebrity Gogglebox line-up on Channel 4, alongside her N-Dubz bandmates.
The group is set to release their new album Timeless in August. It will be the group's first new album in 13 years.
The lead single, Habiti, is out now.
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