Now that we’ve had it confirmed and N-Dubz are 100% getting back together, we’re seriously excited. We were also excited to reminisce about the icon that is Tulisa.
Tula Paulinea Contostavlos, known professionally as Tulisa is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She is part of the group N-Dubz with her cousin Dappy and friend Fazer. She gained two platinum-certified albums, two gold-certified albums, five MOBO awards, a Brit Award nomination, thirteen top 40 singles, six silver-certified singles, and three Urban Music Awards.
From 2011 to 2012, Tulisa was a judge on the television singing competition The X Factor UK. As part of her time on the show, she mentored Little Mix (formerly known as Rhythmix) . Tulisa joined the X factor as a judge back in 2011, replacing Cheryl Cole for the eighth series of the show. She returned for the ninth series of the show, but was replaced by original judge Sharon Osbourne for the show's tenth series.
During her time on the show she mentored incredible acts such as Little Mix, Lucy Spraggan and Ella Henderson and Tulisa had her fair share of iconic moments, including her feud with Gary Barlow, where he rudely told her she had 'fag ash breath.'
In 2012, she released her debut solo single "Young", which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart.
"Live It Up" and "Sight of You" were also hits reaching the top 20 in the UK. In 2012, Tulisa released her debut studio album, The Female Boss.
She also enjoyed success as an actress, starring in the British horror film ‘Demons Never Die’ and the comedy film ‘Big Fat Gypsy Gangster’, both in 2011.
Devastatingly, in March 2012, a six-minute sex tape of Tulisa and her former boyfriend Justin Edwards emerged on the internet. Tulisa was granted an injunction that legally blocks the distribution of the tape.
Released in November 2012 Britney Spears and will.i.am's single "Scream & Shout" was originally co-written by Tulisa with Jean Baptiste and recorded under the title "I Don't Give a F**k". The track was intended for Tulisa's debut album. However, the producer of the track, Lazy Jay, did not want Tulisa to have the song and gave it to will.i.am, who re-wrote the song with Spears in mind.
The song became a hit, peaking at number one in the UK and number three in the US. Despite Tulisa's vocals still being heard on "Scream & Shout", she was not credited with co-writing the song upon its release, which prevented her from collecting any royalties. Tulisa filed a lawsuit against will.i.am and won in 2018, entitling her to 10% of publishing rights.
On 4 June 2013, Tulisa was arrested by police on suspicion of supplying class A drugs and bailed to a date in July 2013. Two residential properties had been searched as part of the investigation. She was formally charged on 9 December with "being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs" and appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 19 December where she denied being involved with the supply of 13.9 grams of cocaine.
She was granted unconditional bail and then appeared at Southwark Crown Court on 9 January 2014. The trial date was set for 14 July 2014. The case was dismissed as the judge believed prosecution witness Mazher Mahmood had lied to the court. Mahmood was later found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice and sent to prison for fifteen months.
In July 2014, her documentary Tulisa: The Price of Fame premiered on BBC Three to a moderate success. Following the collapse of her drug trial, The Guardian's Suzanne Moore discussed her reputation, and wrote that "Tulisa is famously a working class girl made good, though of course made good is never what she is allowed to be.” In Moore's opinion, "Tulisa has been branded by the media as a chav and therefore almost anything can be said about her.”
Last year, Tulisa opened up about her recent diagnosis of Bell's palsy during a rare appearance on Loose Women.
She said: "I do suffer from Bell's palsy, one side of my face can drop down. I think the first attack I had was after a serious horse riding accident and I fractured my skull and it caused a lot of nerve damage and the Bell's palsy can cause facial paralysis, it can cause swelling.
“There's actually been times when people have criticised me for the way I look and my face and I'm actually going through a Bell's palsy attack. I remember it was an ITV appearance one time and I saw an online comment like: 'Her face looks like she's had a stroke', and that can be the effects of Bell's palsy."
