I’m A Celeb star Tulisa reveals she’s terrified of returning to TV after a decade away, but admits the jungle ‘couldn’t be worse than 2013’ after being involved in a drugs sting

She has remained out of the public eye for more than a decade after being embroiled in a drug sting by the infamous Fake Sheikh that left her contemplating suicide.

But now Tulisa Contostavlos, 36, is making her comeback to television by appearing on this year’s I’m A Celebrity and saying: ‘There’s nothing worse in that jungle than what happened in 2013.’

Mazher Mahmood, also known as the Fake Sheik, a former Sun journalist, was sentenced on Sunday to 15 months in prison for perverting the course of justice after tricking Tulisa into buying cocaine for him while posing as a film producer.

Since standing on the steps of Southwark Crown Court in 2014, vindicating and condemning Mahmood’s ‘horrific entrapment’, Tulisa has largely stayed out of the spotlight, apart from an N-Dubz tour in 2022.

Speaking about her entry into the I’m a Celebrity jungle on Sunday, she said: ‘Every time I think, you know, this is going to be hard, I think I’ve done it, I can do it.

‘And then I got to the point: going back on television is the most uncomfortable situation I could find myself in.

‘And I feel like I’ve been in one of those healing cycles for 11 years, since all that nonsense, since X Factor, since the trial.

“And this would complete the cycle for me, because the last thing on the list is the overwhelming fear I have or have had. I don’t feel it today, but in general from the fear of being on TV especially.’

The case was brought against Mahmood after Tulisa was accused of arranging for one of her contacts to sell £800 worth of cocaine to him following an elaborate sting for the Sun on Sunday newspaper in May 2013.

At a meeting at London’s Metropolitan Hotel, Mahmood posed as a film producer and doused the pop star with alcohol as they discussed an acting role alongside Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio.

As Smith drove the former X Factor judge to Hertfordshire, she is said to have spoken about a relative who had a drug problem.

The next ten years were ‘hell’ for Tulisa, who had an entire future ahead of her, destroyed by the sting.

Speaking about the ordeal, the I Need You singer said: “Honestly, I can’t tell you.

“Sure, it’s been horrific for me at times over the past decade, but that’s just not the perspective I have right now. I consider it all knowledge.

“Sure, it’s been horrific for me at times over the past decade, but that’s just not the perspective I have right now. I consider it all knowledge.’

‘Knowledge is power and ultimately a blessing, because without it I wouldn’t be where I am today, I wouldn’t change a thing.

“I don’t think I could have done this unless I felt in such a strong substantive place. So it could only be now. That couldn’t have happened before.’

The singer revealed she said yes to I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! because she is now in her ‘f**k it era’ and posing for a sexy shoot FAULT magazine on Wednesday.

The N-Dubz alum caused a storm for the publication, wearing a racy red leotard and going braless in a denim co-ord set.

Tulisa is already in Australia for I’m A Celeb, which starts on Sunday night and is joined by the likes of Oti Mabuse, Coleen Rooney and Jane Moore for this year’s series.

Before she left, she said why she signed up this year: “I never wanted to do that. I was actually at a point where I thought, ‘I would never, ever do this.’

“But we’re all constantly evolving and growing and I’m just at a point in my life where I’m in my f**k it era. I thought, ‘Does it look really awkward?’ Yes. ‘Is it super exciting?’ Yes.

“Are you going on a crazy rollercoaster ride?” Yes. So do it! All the stuff around the fear around it, I’m like, ‘So what! Just let it go. Do it!’

Elsewhere in the interview, she talked about how she has dealt with fame over the years.

She said, “Like, I’m famous and I need to get a grip. I am fully aware of that. I know the industry I got into, so I just have to throw myself deep.

‘I hope that when I get to the other side of the jungle, this fear will hopefully be eradicated, because I couldn’t be in a more public, vulnerable and exposed situation.

‘But once it’s done and everyone knows who you really are, it gives a feeling of freedom. You’re like, ‘Ah, there you go. That’s where all the rumors have been put to bed.”