Tulisa Contostavlos reveals she's finally discovered root cause of 12-year health battle that left her in 'horrific' pain and fearing for her face

Tulisa Contostavlos has finally discovered the root cause of her 12-year heath battle that left her in 'horrific' pain and fearing for her appearance.

The former X Factor judge, 36, says she pleaded for help from doctors across the country after constantly feeling like her 'cheek was on fire' and suffering with the sensation of ants crawling in her face.

After being diagnosed with Bell's palsy in 2020 the N-Dubz singer continued to have growing issues which would see her face become inflamed and swollen, with the star regularly taking steroids to help control the symptoms.

She said the problems were particularly bad around the time she reformed with the trio in 2022, ending their 11-year hiatus from the music scene with a new tour and single release.

Tulisa admits she would ask herself "What the hell is going on with my face?" before a doctor did a crucial ultrasound, which finally exposed the underlining issue.

The TV star, who is believed to be entering the I'm A Celeb jungle next month, says she discovered 'three chronically infected cysts' in her cheek, one of which popped during an 'explorative operation' due to being so bulbous.

Speaking on Olivia Attwood's podcast So Wrong It's Right, she said: 'I've no idea what they were caused by, they weren't filler, they were just self-occurring, but I came out of the operation and instantly my face was less swollen.

'There's some still there so I still have the inflammation but it's way less. In the next two months he's going to go in to get those ones.'

Tulisa admits after having her first Bell's palsy attack as a 24-year-old, she attempted to use fillers to 'balance out' her face, causing her to be locked in a 'vicious cycle.'

Two years passed where the condition was kept at bay, but she started to feel a 'low level swelling' in the same cheek, which rapidly increased.

She explained: '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?'

During the podcast interview, where Tulisa also confirmed she is taking a 'breather' from N-Dubz, the performer detailed the moment she realised having cysts in her cheek had been the hidden cause of over a decade of chronic stress. 

She also believes the painful cysts had contributed to a long list of medical concerns she has battled with for years such as sarcoidosis and immune disorders.

Tulisa added: 'My doctor said my ultrasounds showed these dark shadows and he said what I'm going to do, if you'd allow me, is to go in for an explorative op and just see what I can find. I was like, please do it. I'll do anything. Please. I can't take it any longer.

'So, he went in and found three chronically infected cysts. So I basically had these cysts that were sat all around my cheek, swelling up with infection, one of them actually popped as he went in that's how infected it was.

'And I've had all these health problems for years – sarcoidosis, immune disorders and this explains all the symptoms that I was getting and could have been causing Bell's palsy because in total there was, I think, six of them. They could have been growing over the years, actually triggering the Bell's.'

After years of experimenting, Tulisa said she made the decision to remove the filler from her face and now only uses it in her lips. 

She added: 'Right now, I only have filler in my lips. There's no filler anywhere else in my face and I've never spoken about this publicly as I only discovered what was really going on this year.' 

Tulisa, who has been building back her career in recent years, recalled the moment she convinced X Factor boss Simon Cowell to give her a judging role on the panel, which saw her mentor winning group Little Mix throughout the competition.

Appearing on the talent series in 2011 and 2012, Tulisa was joined by Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland, Take That's Gary Barlow, and music manager Louis Walsh. 

She was only 22 at the time and remembers instantly panicking after realising that she had landed the sought-after job, which made her one of the most recognisable faces in the country.

She said: 'I manifested it. I looked at that job and was like, I'm gonna have that job, like, that job is mine. 

'Then I actually got to the point where I'm sat in Simon's house saying to him, if you don't hire me, this is the biggest mistake you've ever made in your life. And then he hired me on the spot. He was like the jobs yours. 

'And then I walked out of the house, and I was like "Okay, crap. No, I really need to do this. How am I gonna?" I'm in way over my head. 

'I was just keeping my head above water the whole time. I didn't know what the hell was going on I was just trying my best and all of a sudden I'm one of the most famous people in the country because I'm an X Factor judge.' 

As she approaches her late 30s, Tulisa says her dreams are no longer in music or Showbiz and she hopes to make a living from investing in property, and is already drawing up plans for 'fantasy themed rentals.'

She revealed: 'This year coming I'm going into property. 

'I'm gonna build some themed rentals and because I'm such a fantasy nerd, I've decided I want to create a Lord of the Rings Hobbit hole I want to do a Woodland Realm. 

'I want to do a Star Wars Millennium Falcon. This is the thing that is exciting me the most right now, this is the thing that I'm most passionate about at the moment, creating and going into property. I'm drawing up my plans. I'm looking for land... it's just thrilling.'

• Olivia Attwood's So Wrong It's Right is available to listen wherever you get your podcasts and episodes are released weekly