Tulisa Contostavlos has opened up about the social struggles she faced while in the I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! jungle.
The N-Dubz singer, 36, was the third star to be evicted from the jungle after living alongside the likes of TV personality Coleen Rooney and McFly singer Danny Jones – who was crowned king of the jungle.
Contostavlos admitted she’s a “massive introvert” and found it hard to be around her campmates for every hour of the day, often sneaking away from camp for some alone time.
Speaking to The Mirror, the singer said: “I was really getting a little bit overwhelmed in there. So, I was probably the least around in camp.
“I would go and remove myself and go for walks or go and hide in the dunny,” she explained. “I spent 90 per cent of my time alone.”
Contostavlos, who suffers from agoraphobia – the fear of situations that could cause panic, helplessness or feelings of being trapped or embarrassed – said her campmates understood her need for time alone.
“They had jokes like, ‘She’s gone to the Airbnb. She’ll be back,” she said. “You know, they’re like, What are you doing? I’m like, ‘Bro, I’ve just been staring at a palm tree. I just needed a minute.’”
The singer’s I’m a Celeb appearance came after Contostavlos was secretly recorded by disgraced journalist Mazher Mahmoodalleged, who claimed she had fixed a drug deal for him. After a year-long legal battle, Mahmoodalleged was found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Of her decision to return to the public eye, Contostavlos explained: “I had pushed myself into doing this and I was ready to overcome all the fears and being in the spotlight, but being watched consistently, [for] so many hours a day, nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, feeling so exposed.
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Everyone can see me, and also this underlying fear – probably irrational – of being watched.”
After Contostavlos left the jungle she did not appear on any other I’m A Celebrity shows, such as the spin-off programme Unpacked and deleted all mention of the programme from her social media.
The N-Dubz star explained she needed time to process her emotions rather than pushing through further filming in order to keep herself well, adding she spent the days after the jungle crying in her hotel room.
“In the current age that we live in, it’s like, ‘You want me to be there out of principle? When I’m having a breakdown right now? I need to go home and process this,” she said.
“If other people are not having the same experience as me, they haven’t had the same experiences in the past and they’re all current people that are doing radios or they’re on television. This is very much the norm for them. This, for me, was a psychological experiment, for myself.”
At the time, Contostavlos shared a video to fans on social media explaining why she needed some time away from the spotlight. “I just started to feel overwhelmed. I thought do you know what, I really just need to take a bit of time for me and just chill,” she said. “This is all just feeling a bit much at the moment.
“I’m just going to archive all my stuff to do with the jungle. Then when the time is right and I’ve had a little time to process I’m going to make my own reels of all my best bits I really like.”
