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‘I don’t deal in nonsense’: Tulisa on ‘revenge porn’, tabloid stings, celibacy, success and survival

After a stint on I’m a Celebrity, the N-Dubz singer is preparing for her next act. She discusses the trauma she has lived through – and why she still has faith in the future

“I was a little rebel, really, always the black sheep.” But it was a gear-change, fame-wise, and she was soon embroiled in what came to be known as the “homewrecker” scandal, in which the Sun published an untrue story based on the testimony of the ex-girlfriend of Danny Simpson, a footballer Tulisa was dating. Yet others understood instinctively what this case was about: in 2013 the guerrilla fashion designer Sports Banger made his Free Tulisa T-shirts, which were instantly everywhere and arguably launched him as an artist and activist. Ten years ago, just as the drugs case was ending, Tulisa started getting flare-ups of inflammation on one side of her face, which would then tail off into Bell’s palsy, a droop on her mouth that could last for months.

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