Tulisa's heartbreaking real reason for signing up to I'm A Celeb exposed after 'ordeal'

I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! star Tulisa Contostavlos is said to be going on a “healing journey” in the jungle after opening up about her health battles and sexuality.

The N-Dubz singer recently revealed she has suffered from Bell’s palsy, a condition that can cause temporary paralysis or weakness to facial muscles. Tulisa said she was 24 when her face first “blew up” due to the condition.

She says she had fillers over the years in a bid to correct the condition, only to eventually go under the knife and have them dissolved, uncovering a cyst. In her autobiography, My Story So Far, the former X Factor judge also revealed she suffered from dermatillomania - or skin picking disorder - which left the singer “tearing into her face”.

READ MORE: Strictly Come Dancing's Toyah Willcox shares candid insight into 'tough' show experience

READ MORE: I'm A Celebrity: 'I am a body language expert and here's what Ant really thinks about Dean'

And, since entering the jungle, she has been open about other issues in her personal life, including her relationships and demisexuality, her 2013 arrest on drugs charges, and a sex tape released by her ex-boyfriend Justin Edwards. Now bandmate and former flame Fazer - real name Richard Rawson - says Tulisa has “been through a whole ordeal”.

Speaking to Heat magazine, he explained her reasons for signing up to the ITV show, sharing: “She’s never spoken about these things before in public. This is part of her healing journey - to go back in front of the public eye, put it out there, let everyone see her for who she is, and forget the preconceptions they might have of her.

“From strategically closing herself off to putting herself on one of the biggest TV shows to be judged is a big step, and all credit is due to her.”

Fazer described Tulisa as a “people person”, adding that she is “very nurturing and caring”. He says both he and Dappy - Tulisa’s cousin and the pair’s fellow bandmate - have been supporting her while she’s in the jungle.

But Fazer confesses the pair are both voting for Tulisa to take part in the infamous Bushtucker Trials because she “isn’t very good with bugs”. When asked whether there’s any possibility of a romance between Tulisa and fellow campmate, Coronation Street star Alan Halsall, who is also single, Fazer says “who knows”.

Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages

It comes after Tulisa admitted she has been celibate for three years and considers herself “demisexual” - meaning she only establishes a sexual attraction to someone after forming an emotional connection. On the show, Tulisa said: “I feel like I’m demisexual; I need to have a really close emotional bond with someone.”

Tulisa has been seen giving out inspiration quotes in the jungle and has even taken influencer GK Barry under her wing. Something that doesn’t surprise Fazer, who admits his bandmate “wasn’t dealt the best cards in life”.

Tulisa was arrested on suspicion of brokering a drugs deal in 2013. The trial, however, collapsed after judge Alistair McCreath told Southwark Crown Court he thought prosecution witness Mazher Mahmood had lied while giving evidence.

Mahmood, then a journalist at The Sun known as the fake sheikh, is said to have posed as a film producer and met Tulisa several times. He claimed she told him she could get class A drugs in exchange for a film role. In 2016, Mahmood was jailed for 15 months after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! airs on ITV One and ITVX from 9pm tonight.

Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.