Tulisa Contostavlos recently detailed her agonising 12-year health battle with Bell’s palsy, ahead of her arrival on I’m A Celebrity.
But sadly, it isn’t the first health issue the singer, 36, has had to contend with, after developing another severe and painful disorder as a teenager.
The N-Dubz star entered the famous jungle on Sunday’s launch show, and sparked a big reaction from viewers with her new look.
Tulisa underwent a makeover before jetting off to Australia, getting her lips and eyebrows tattooed and topping up her lip filler and eyelash extensions.
Her pal Rylan was quick to get ahead of any negative remarks that could come her way, taking to X/Twitter to share: ‘Also before people start going for appearance, Tulisa has been through a lot health wise the last few years so let’s not make s**t jokes about her on twitter yeah x. (sic)’
And Tulisa recently opened up about her health battles had changed her appearance, explaining she had been left in ‘horrific’ pain and fearing for her face.
Tulisa Contostavlos recently detailed her agonising 12-year health battle with Bell’s palsy, ahead of her arrival on I’m A Celebrity
But sadly, it isn’t the first health issue the singer, 36, has had to contend with, after developing another severe and painful disorder as a teenager (pictured in 2011)
The N-Dubz star entered the famous jungle on Sunday’s launch show (pictured), and sparked a big reaction from viewers with her new look
She was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy in 2020 – a neurological disorder that causes paralysis or weakness on one side of the face when the facial nerve is damaged or stops working properly, having her first attack at 24 years old.
But years earlier, she had already been battling another harrowing condition, stemming from her depression and anxiety growing up.
Tulisa previously revealed she suffered from dermatillomania, a disorder that sees a person unable to stop picking at their skin, even to the extent it causes them pain or injury.
She spoke about the condition in her tell-all book, Honest: My Story So Far in 2012, describing how she would self-harm by ‘tearing into her face’ with nail clippers for hours, leaving her with ‘gaping’ wounds,
The NHS explains that skin picking disorder, or dermatillomania, is related to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and sees people causing cuts, bleeding or bruising by continuously picking with fingers or tools.
They add the condition can be triggered by stress, anxiety, guilt, shame, boredom or skin conditions and is also related to body dysmorphic disorder, where the person is excessively preoccupied with their appearance.
Tulisa said her skin picking disorder was triggered by her anxiety caused by her mother Anne’s own battle with schizoaffective disorder – a mix of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
She wrote: ‘My frustration and depression at that point in my life led to the formation of some strange and damaging habits that stretched right into my adult life.
Tulisa underwent a makeover before jetting off to Australia, getting her lips and eyebrows tattooed and topping up her lip filler and eyelash extensions
And Tulisa recently opened up about her health battles had changed her appearance, explaining she had been left in ‘horrific’ pain and fearing for her face
She was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy in 2020 – a neurological disorder that causes paralysis or weakness on one side of the face when the facial nerve is damaged or stops working properly, having her first attack at 24 years old (pictured at 24 in 2012)
‘At one point Mum was going through one of those phases where she was particularly anxious, and every time I turned around, there she was right behind me, whatever I was doing.
‘It was bad enough feeling trapped and isolated at home anyway, but having my mum constantly fretting and fussing around me wherever I went was making me as anxious as she was. These are the times I would lock myself away in the bathroom, just to get away from her.’
She recalled: ‘On one occasion, when Mum was having a particularly bad day, I shut myself in the bathroom and began scratching and picking at a tiny little spot on my chin.
‘It was a strange feeling, and hard to describe, but concentrating on getting at this little spot seemed to distract me from the situation at hand.
‘So after I’d picked away at that spot for a while, I found another spot, then a small blackhead, and then a tiny mark that wasn’t even a spot, and after an hour I felt extremely relaxed.
‘The only thing was, I’d picked and squeezed non-existent spots all over my face until it looked like I had really bad acne. This became a regular thing.’
Tulisa explained that her skin picking worsened over time and continued even as N-Dubz began achieving mainstream success, flaring up whenever she felt pressured or anxious, or went to stay with her mother again.
She wrote: ‘Picking at my face was my way of zoning out, I guess, and sometimes I would go into the bathroom and just pick at my skin for hours, not realising that I’d developed an anxiety disorder of my own: dermatillomania.
‘As far as I was concerned, it was just something I did to get away from my mum, but it got so bad that eventually I was tearing into my face with nail clippers and tweezers, just to get at any minute blemish or invisible little bump under my skin.
‘At times I caused absolute catastrophe on my face, leaving gaping, weeping holes that must have looked horrendous. I was extremely lucky that my skin always healed quickly and without too much scarring.
‘I did this almost every day for years, and it’s only three years ago that I started getting my dermatillomania under control.
‘Even when I was having success with N-Dubz, I would have spells of picking and digging at my face when I felt under pressure or anxious.
‘If ever I went to stay with my mum for a few days, for instance, I’d always find myself picking at my skin again, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.’
Tulisa previously revealed she suffered from dermatillomania, a disorder that sees a person unable to stop picking at their skin, even to the extent it causes them pain or injury (pictured 2008)
She spoke about the condition in her tell-all book, Honest: My Story So Far in 2012, describing how she would self-harm by ‘tearing into her face’ with nail clippers for hours, leaving her with ‘gaping’ wounds
Tulisa said her skin picking disorder was triggered by her anxiety caused by her mother Anne’s own battle with schizoaffective disorder – a mix of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (pictured with her mum in 2010)
Tulisa explained the last time that it got really bad was while she was filming a documentary called My Mum and Me in 2010, as it dredged up old feelings.
She revealed that her management and the production staff began to assume she was ‘shirking her responsibilities’ and being ‘difficult and stroppy’ by being late or missing work, forcing her to send them links to try and legitimize the disorder.
She explained: ‘The documentary was about young people who had parents with severe depression and bipolar or schizophrenic disorders, and specifically about my relationship with my mum.
‘All throughout the weeks of filming, I went back to picking at my face again, and I’d often be late for the filming because I’d spent two hours in the bathroom by myself and hadn’t realised what the time was.
‘At the time people thought I was being difficult and stroppy turning up late for work or sometimes missing it altogether but the anxiety of reliving all that stuff with my mum had sent me back to my old tried and trusted habit.
‘I wasn’t a troubled teenager anymore, though; I was a successful recording artist, which made what was happening even harder to accept.
‘I became very distressed and I Googled the condition, sending links to my management and the people I was working with, just to prove to them that I wasn’t making it all up and shirking my responsibilities.
‘”This is what’s wrong with me”, I told them. “It’s a recognised condition.” But nobody had ever heard of it, and even once they had, they struggled to understand it. And what’s worse, I hated myself for letting it happen.’
Tulisa explained that her skin picking worsened over time and continued even as N-Dubz began achieving mainstream success, flaring up whenever she felt pressured or anxious, or went to stay with her mother again (pictured with band in 2009)
Tulisa explained the last time that it got really bad was while she was filming a documentary called My Mum and Me in 2010 as it dredged up old feelings, with people thinking she was ‘shirking her responsibilities’ and being ‘difficult and stroppy’ (pictured in the documentary)
Tulisa described her breaking point saw her breaking down, before finally seeking help and seeing a hypnotist and said she’s managed to ‘get it under control’ since then.
She penned: ‘It got so bad one day that my personal assistant Gareth found me sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth, in tears.
‘Why was I hurting myself like this? “I hate myself for being weak,” I told him. “I need to go and see someone about this. I want to try a session with a hypnotist.”
‘The strange thing was, after seeing the hypnotist, I went home and tore my face up worse than I ever had before, but once it had healed, I finally managed to get it under control. Let’s hope it stays that way.’
It comes after Tulisa spoke about her Bell’s palsy battle on Olivia Attwood’s podcast this month, describing how her face became inflamed and swollen.
She attempted to use fillers to ‘balance out’ her appearance, but soon became locked in a ‘vicious cycle’ of getting the injections.
She admitted the problems were particularly bad around the time she reformed with her N-Dubz bandmates Dappy and Fazer in 2022, ending their 11-year hiatus from the music scene with a new tour and single release.
A doctor soon got to the cause after performing an ultrasound on her face, finding ‘three chronically infected cysts’ in her cheek, one of which popped during an ‘explorative operation’ due to being so bulbous.
It comes after Tulisa spoke about her Bell’s palsy battle on Olivia Attwood ‘s podcast this month, describing how her face became inflamed and swollen
She attempted to use fillers to ‘balance out’ her appearance, but soon became locked in a ‘vicious cycle’ of getting the injections (pictured in 2012)
Tulisa shared: ‘I’ve no idea what they were caused by, they weren’t filler, they were just self-occurring, but I came out of the operation and instantly my face was less swollen.’
Two years passed where the condition was kept at bay, but she started to feel a ‘low level swelling’ in the same cheek, which rapidly increased.
She explained: ‘I would have like tingling sensations like little ants crawling in my face. I started seeing doctors all around the UK – “Something’s wrong with me, what’s wrong with my face” – it was so scary. This went all the way up until this year it was horrific.
‘I constantly felt like my cheek was on fire. I’d have good days and bad days and on some days, I’d take steroids, which would bring it down.
‘When I was doing that N-Dubz run it was at its worst, so you might see an interview, I look normal. And then you see another interview, it’s like, what the hell is going on with my face?’
Tulisa also shared her belief that the painful cysts had contributed to a long list of medical concerns she has battled with for years such as sarcoidosis and immune disorders.
She shared: ‘I’ve had all these health problems for years – sarcoidosis, immune disorders and this explains all the symptoms that I was getting and could have been causing Bell’s palsy because in total there was, I think, six of them. They could have been growing over the years, actually triggering the Bell’s.’
After years of experimenting, Tulisa said she made the decision to remove the filler from her face and now only uses it in her lips.
She added: ‘Right now, I only have filler in my lips. There’s no filler anywhere else in my face.’
Tulisa has always been open about having lip filler and previously joked about her famous trout pout disaster.
The Young hitmaker raised eyebrows when she showed off an extremely plump pout back in 2014 – leading fans to comment on her rapidly changing face.
After years of experimenting, Tulisa said she made the decision to remove the filler from her face and now only uses it in her lips
The Young hitmaker raised eyebrows when she showed off an extremely plump pout back in 2014 – with Tulisa later revealing she suffered an allergic reaction to her lip filler (pictured)
Reflecting on the incident, the star said on Lorraine: ‘I went through stages, I had an allergic reaction to something, and then it took me a while to get rid of it.
‘I still get fillers in my lips, so it’s all about maintaining. I’m happy with it now. That’s where you’re giving yourself a spruce.’
Elsewhere in the podcast, Tulisa revealed her plans to get ‘fat transfer’ in the future to help bring down the bruising in her face which makes her ‘paranoid’.
She explained: ‘I have noticed that where I have been having so many steroid injections into this cheek when it would blow up because of the inflammation.
‘As the swelling is going down, I am left with a lot of indentation in this cheek. I’ve covered it with makeup, it does make me really paranoid. I hate it, no one likes having dents in their cheek or discolouration or things wrong with their face.
‘But I will take a bit [of makeup] off so you can see it. It’s literally like a bruise, this is the indentation.
‘One of the more permanent things you can do is get a fat transfer, which I will do in the future, when I’ve got time but for now what I’m going to do is a treatment called profhilo.’
A surgical fat transfer is cosmetic surgery to move fat from one part of the body to another. It’s also known as a “fat graft” or “lipomodelling”.
Ahead of getting the fat transfer, Tulisa revealed she’s undergoing profhilo treatment to bring down the bruising – which is said to improve skin tone, texture, hydration and overall radiance and can help increase firmness and elasticity and promote healthier and softer-looking skin.
I’M A CELEBRITY 2024: MEET THE ALL STAR LINE UP
OTI MABUSE
Oti Mabuse has already two Strictly glitterballs under her belt
AGE: 34
OCCUPATION: Professional dancer
FAMOUS FOR: Oti is best known for being a professional dancer on the British television series Strictly Come Dancing, which she won in 2019 and 2020.
DANNY JONES
Danny Jones is one of the bookies’ favourites to win this year’s I’m A Celeb
AGE: 38
OCCUPATION: McFly singer
FAMOUS FOR: Danny is one of the lead vocalists and the lead guitarist for pop-rock band McFly.
He is also a coach on The Voice UK.
BARRY MCGUIGAN
Former boxer Barry McGuigan is heading into the jungle
AGE: 63
OCCUPATION: Retired professional boxer
FAMOUS FOR: Barry was nicknamed The Clones Cyclone and held the WBA and lineal featherweight titles from 1985 to 1986.
GK BARRY
GK Barry is a TikTok star who recently joined the ITV family on Loose Women
AGE: 25
OCCUPATION: TikTok star
FAMOUS FOR: Grace is known for her comedic commentary on culture, lifestyle, and fashion. She has over 3.6 million followers and recently joined the Loose Women panel.
DEAN MCCULLOUGH
ITV bosses are hoping Dean McCullough will ruffle feathers in the camp
AGE: 32
OCCUPATION: Radio 1 DJ
FAMOUS FOR: Radio 1 DJ Dean has been signed by I’m A Celeb bosses, in the hope that he will ruffle feathers with his outspoken views.
Earlier this year it was announced Dean would be taking over the BBC Radio 1 Early Breakfast Show, after previously fronting the afternoon slot.
JANE MOORE
Jane is best known as a panellist and anchor of Loose Women
AGE: 62
OCCUPATION: Journalist
FAMOUS FOR: Jane is best known as a panellist and anchor of Loose Women between 1999 and 2002.
She returned as a regular panellist from 2013 onwards.
Jane takes on the challenge following her high-profile split from husband of 20 years, Showbiz agent, Gary Farrow.
MELVIN ODOOM
Melvin was previously courted by I’m A Celeb bosses back in 2021
AGE: 44
OCCUPATION: DJ and TV presenter
FAMOUS FOR: His work on radio. Melvin was previously courted by I’m A Celeb bosses back in 2021, but turned down the offer at the last minute.
He also had a primetime stint on Strictly back in 2016.
COLEEN ROONEY
Reports claim that she has been offered the biggest deal in the show’s history
AGE: 38
OCCUPATION: WAG
FAMOUS FOR: Wagatha Christie case against arch rival Rebekah Vardy.
Reports claim that she has been offered the biggest deal in the show’s history, exceeding Nigel Farage’s £1.5million from last year.
ALAN HALSALL
Alan Halsall is best known for his role as Tyrone Dobbs on Coronation Street
AGE: 42
OCCUPATION: Actor
FAMOUS FOR: Coronation Street actor Alan Halsall was forced to withdraw from I’m A Celeb last year, after undergoing ACL Reconstruction surgery.
Bosses have now convinced the actor to sign up again, and no doubt he will draw in a huge fanbase thanks to his long-running role as Tyrone Dobbs on the soap.
TULISA
Tulisa is making her career comeback after reuniting with N-Dubz last year
AGE: 36
OCCUPATION: Singer and former X Factor judge
FAMOUS FOR: Tulisa reunited with N-Dubz last year for a tour after first finding fame with the band in 2007.
In 2011, she became a judge on The X Factor and went on to launch her debut solo album, The Female Boss.
She released her fourth album with N-Dubz last year.
