N-Dubz star Tulisa’s health battle that left her 'hiding in her house'

Before appearing in Australia for this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Tulisa opened up about her health battle.

We were used to seeing N-Dubz star regularly on our TV screens back in the early 2010s as a judge on X-Factor as well as releasing popular music as a group and then solo.

But in recent years, Tulisa Contostavlos, 36, has been much less in the public eye. And now the singer has opened up about why she has been “hiding”.

Read more: I’m A Celebrity viewers praise Tulisa for being ‘real’ as she opens up about being demisexual in honest camp chat

Shortly before entering the jungle, Tulisa joined former Love Islander Olivia Attwood for an episode of her ‘So Wrong It’s Right’ podcast, where she spoke openly about her struggles with Bell's Palsy, a condition Justin Bieber also experienced.

From having Bell’s Palsy, Tulisa experienced swelling and difficulties moving her face.

She said: “When I was about 24, I had my first Bell's Palsy attack. So I sat at home, and I had a massive burst of inflammation, and it went down, but my whole face dropped – eye, everything.

“I couldn't move it. My face remained like that for seven months. I didn't go out, I just hid in the house.”

Since returning to our TV screens on ITV's I'm a Celeb, many people have commented on her appearance, and how different she looks now.

Tulisa explained: “As I was coming to the end of the seven months, my face was still not right… I would go and get fillers to try and balance out the symmetry.

“So I’d be like right, if you put some in that cheek to match the swelling on that cheek and then if you put some here to lift this up so my lip isn’t down there. You can imagine the vicious cycle."

Then to her relief, Tulisa went two full years without a Bell's Palsy attack, but she began to notice 'low-level swelling' in the same cheek. She said the sensation felt like 'ants crawling' in her face.

She recalled: “I would have like tingling sensations like little ants crawling in my face. I started seeing doctors all around the UK – 'Something's wrong with me, what's wrong with my face' – it was so scary. This went all the way up until this year it was horrific.

"I constantly felt like my cheek was on fire. I'd have good days and bad days and on some days, I'd take steroids, which would bring it down.

“When I was doing that N-Dubz run it was at its worst, so you might see an interview, I look normal. And then you see another interview, it's like, what the hell is going on with my face?"

Tulisa continued: “It was scary, and then what happened was because I had this low-level swelling. I then dissolved all the filler, and I would match the inflammation by putting filler in the other side. So you have this side swollen, and this side is filler to match the swelling."

Tulisa said she has since had the filler removed, and now claims to just have filler in her lips. Ahead of her I'm A Celeb appearance, she's also reportedly had her lips tattooed.

Before heading down under, Tulisa told her followers: "If me being my authentic self connects with people in a mass way, then it must mean I'm doing something right in life.

“But I am not going to go looking for it. This isn't a career move for me either. I will always go back to N-Dubz, and this is a one-off experience."

According to the NHS, Bell's palsy is a condition which results in a patient experiencing temporary weakness or lack of movement that tends to affect just one side of the face. Steroid treatment can help, and most people get better within six months.

Tulisa is joined in the jungle by dancer Oti Mabuse, McFly member Danny Jones, radio DJ Dean McCullough plus other stars.

Episodes are broadcast each day at 9 pm on ITV1 and ITVX.