Tulisa and Gary Barlow's excruciating X Factor spat that I'm A Celebrity star couldn't forgive

When she was a judge on The X Factor, Tulisa Contostavlos had a spat with Gary Barlow who accused her of having 'fag ash breath' - but she later made fun of the incident

Tulisa Contostavlos is one of the 12 stars heading into the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle.

The N-Dubz star, 36, admitted she was never planning to take part in the ITV reality show but decided to take the plunge, revealing in an interview: "I actually was at a point where I was like, 'I would never, ever do this.' But we're all forever evolving and growing and I just got to a point in my life where I was just in my f*** it era. I was like, 'Does it seem really uncomfortable?' Yeah. 'Is it super exciting?' Yes. 'Are you gonna have a crazy rollercoaster journey?' Yes.

"So do it! All the things surrounding the fear around it, I'm just like, 'So what! Just let it go. Do it!'" The singer rose to fame in the mid-2000s with the London hip-hop group, then went on to carve out a solo career in music and was a judge on The X Factor from 2011 to 2012.

The other judges on the music competition were Take That singer Gary Barlow, former Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland and music manager Louis Walsh. But Tulisa's time on The X Factor wasn't without controversy as the singer, who was 24 at the time, found herself at the centre of a personal attack that she took a while to forgive.

Asking Gary about the performance of contestant Christopher Maloney, Tulisa said: "How many of these eighties classics are you going to let him destroy?" But the singer replied: "I don't know what offends me more, those comments or that fag ash breath."

Tulisa was left shocked by the comment and then accused Gary of drinking, saying: "Just a note for Gary: lay off the red wine, coz' I can really smell that as well." Despite taking offence at the comment, Tulisa later forgave Gary, who "sat for ages" in her dressing room apologising to her, according to a report in the Metro newspaper at the time.

A source said: "Gary came to Tulisa's dressing room after the show and sat for ages apologising to her. He knows he was out of line and hugely regretted saying that to her." Another insider added: "Tulisa was really angry but eventually accepted his apology.

"Gary feels really, really bad about what he said. He was speaking without thinking... in the spur of moment and he didn't mean it." However, the following day Tulisa made fun of the incident by poking fun at herself as she wore a nicotine patch on her arm. She then looked at the camera and showed the addition to her arm to the viewers at home.

Ahead of her stint on I'm a Celebrity this year, Tulisa opened up on her fear of being in the limelight. She said: "My biggest fear about going on the show is being thrust so far back into the spotlight again. That's the biggest fear that I'm going to overcome. But then at the same time, I've done this all my life.

"Like, why am I letting bad experiences in the past make me feel terrified to be on television or do an interview or get photographed by paparazzi? And that's kind of the place that I've been in for the past few years. And I noticed it on the N-Dubz tour. I could get on stage for N-Dubz, but anything else involving promo interviews, press, or being photographed by paps, I literally felt nauseous."

Tulisa also admitted to finding that showbiz is "contrived" and that even when it comes to something positive she has an "unexplained fear about it," adding that it "just makes me super uncomfortable. Being written about, being photographed." She added that she knows her fear is "irrational," adding "I am famous and I need to get a grip. I'm fully aware of that.

"I know the industry I stepped into, so I just need to throw myself balls deep. I'm hoping that when I come out the other side of the jungle, hopefully this fear will be eradicated because I couldn't be in a more public, vulnerable, exposed situation."

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