Tulisa

Tula Paulinea Contostavlos (born 13 July 1988), known as Tulisa, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, actress and television personality of Greek and Irish ancestry. She was a member of the Camden-based hip hop and R&B group N-Dubz. Tulisa was also a judge on The X Factor.

 Background 

Tula Paulinea Contostavlos was born on 13 July 1988 in Camden Town, London. When Contostavlos was five, her mother, who has bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder, was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. The 2010 BBC programme, Tulisa: My Mum and Me, described Contostavlos' life looking after her mother before joining N-Dubz.

On 9 March 2020, Contostavlos revealed she suffered from Bell's palsy.

 Family 
Her Irish mother, Anne Byrne, was born in Churchtown, Dublin. Anne and her three sisters were in a 1980's big band and swing group, called Jeep. Contostavlos' father, Plato Contostavlos, is Greek-Cypriot and at one time was keyboardist with Mungo Jerry. Plato's brother, Byron Contostavlos, was bassist with Mungo Jerry and later became the manager of N-Dubz.

 Career 
Tulisa was in the band N-Dubz with her cousin Dappy and their friend Fazer. The group became very popular. Tulisa was a celebrity judge on The X Factor in 2011 and 2012. She mentored the "Groups" category in 2011. They included Little Mix, the first group to win the competition. Tulisa returned to the show in 2014 because Mel B was ill.

As a singer, Contostavlos has recorded three studio albums with N-Dubz, Uncle B (2008), Against All Odds (2009) and Love.Live.Life (2010). In 2011, she started work on a solo album. In 2012 it was released. The Female Boss got a lot of bad reviews and did not chart well. Three singles were released from the album. The first single, "Young", entered the UK Singles Chart at number one.

In 2022, N-Dubz went on a reunion tour. They have also appeared on Celebrity Gogglebox together since 2023.

In 2024, Contostavlos was a contestant on the twenty-fourth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! where she came tenth place.

 Drug trial
In June 2013, Costostavlos, along with rapper Mike GLC were arrested on suspicion of supplying class A drugs.Tulisa arrestedTulisa arrested: Friend Mike GLC insists star has "not done anything" and "truth will come out" In July 2014, Contostavlos' trial for supplying cocaine ended because it was discovered that the journalist who accused her, Mazher Mahmood, had lied to the court.

In July 2014, she made a documentary about her time during the trial named Tulisa: The Price of Fame, which premiered on BBC Three to a moderate success, attracting 615,000 viewers (3.8% of the audience within its time slot).  In April 2015, Justice Nicholas Kearns, President of the Irish High Court, described her as having been "cruelly deceived in a shabby sting operation", but dismissed her attempt to sue the Irish Sun for defamation.

After the collapse of her drug trial, The Guardian Suzanne Moore wrote an article on Contostavlos image and 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".

Discography

 The Female Boss (2012)

Filmography

 Television 
 Year Title Role Notes 2007–2009 Dubplate Drama Laurissa Series 2–3 2010 Tulisa: My Mum & Me HerselfDocumentary 2010–2011 Being... N-Dubz2010–2012Alan Carr: Chatty ManGuest; 3 episodes2010–2016Celebrity Juice10 episodes2011 Before They Were Dubz DocumentaryWall of FameGuest Panellist1 episode 2011–2012, 2014 The X Factor Judge2012Britain's Got TalentPerformer1 episodeThe Talent Show StoryHerself2012–2020Loose WomenGuest; 5 episodes2013–2015Sweat the Small Stuff5 episodes 2014 Tulisa: The Price of Fame Documentary 2016 Hoff The Record Cameo appearanceOff Their RockersGuest PranksterSeries 4, episode 62018Don't Hate the PlayazHerself1 episode2024I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!Contestant

 Film 
+YearTitleRole2011Demons Never DieAmberBig Fat Gypsy GangsterShaniqua

References

 Other websites 



Category:Actors from London
Category:British people convicted of assault
Category:British R&B musicians
Category:English movie actors
Category:English rappers
Category:English singer-songwriters
Category:People from the London Borough of Camden
Category:Singers from London
Category:Television personalities from London
Category:1988 births
Category:Living people
Category:Musicians from London
Category:English R&B singers
Category:English hip hop musicians
Category:English dance-pop singers
Category:British dance-pop singers
Category:Grime music artists
Category:English dance-pop musicians
Category:British dance-pop musicians
Category:Urban pop musicians
Category:UK garage singers
Category:British blue-eyed soul singers
Category:English blue-eyed soul singers