Tulisa reveals how traumatising sex tape ordeal led to her demisexuality, Bell's palsy left her depressed and I'm A Celeb exit left her hyperventilating as she breaks her silence after fleeing Australia

Tulisa opened up about her traumatising past as she broke her silence following her I'm A Celebrity stint. 

The singer, 36, raised eyebrows this month when she fled Australia before the show's final, retreating from the public eye after becoming the third celeb to be voted out of the jungle. 

Speaking to The Guardian about her decision to leave, she explained: 'I came out, still followed by cameras, all t**s and teeth, and it wasn't until I was on my own that I felt this introvert-overload. I was hyperventilating, crying. It was too much.' 

She added that she wasn't sure if the 'fear' came from being in the spotlight or whether she no longer wanted fame. 

It's understandable that Tulisa is wary of being in the public eye, having been involved in several scandals - including a drug sting by The Sun's notorious Fake Sheikh.

Yet she revealed that it was the sex tape her ex Justin Edwards posted of her in 2012 that traumatised her the most. She later sued him for leaking the footage and settled in court. 

Tulisa said of her trauma: 'It's had the most long-term effects. It has really affected my love life and my intimacy... I feel so much shame surrounding it that my relationship to sex doesn't feel the same.'

During her time in the jungle, Tulisa opened up about her sex life, revealing she has been celibate for three years and coming out as demisexual.

Demisexuality is a sexual orientation where a person only experiences sexual attraction after forming a strong emotional connection with someone. 

Explaining how she came to that realisation, Tulisa shared: 'I've kind of always been that way. But me being that kind of person, and then having the experiences I've had, has put me so far back into my shell. 

'I only deal with people I already know. I've just recycled ex-boyfriends for the past 10 years. A new person coming in doesn't have a chance.'

She added that if she doesn't see someone as a 'friend' then 'I wouldn't want them as a lover. I just don't get the tingles.'

Yet she revealed that she doesn't think her celibacy will last forever as she has faith that the universe will provide her with the perfect person.  

Part of Tulisa's journey to finding love comes with her own journey of self acceptance. 

The N-Dubz star detailed her agonising 12-year health battle with Bell's palsy, ahead of her arrival on I'm A Celebrity. 

She was diagnosed with Bell's palsy in 2020 - a neurological disorder that causes paralysis or weakness on one side of the face when the facial nerve is damaged or stops working properly.

Yet she soon became locked in a vicious cycle of having filler to even out her appearance and her face becoming inflamed and swollen.

Reflecting on her ordeal, Tulisa shared: 'It was not fun, looking in the mirror every day and hating what you see. And also, going: "This isn't my face", and people going: "Well, it is your face now, because you're full of filler." But that was because half my face was full of fluid, so I got fillers in the other half. It was torture.'

Just before entering the jungle, Tulisa had cysts removed from her cheeks and shared: 'instantly, my face was smaller. Honestly, the depression that it caused…'  

Tulisa's interview came after she fled Australia within days of being voted out of I'm A Celeb, having deleted all traces of her appearance on the ITV show from her Instagram.

She broke the tradition of eliminated stars remaining Down Under for the final. 

She later took to her Instagram to address the speculation about her sudden departure to say she had become 'overwhelmed' by the whole thing.

The singer posted about her jungle experience, sharing a slew of photos of herself on the show alongside a short caption where she apologised to her campmates for skipping the final.

She wrote: 'Looking back at some of my favourite moments from the @Imacelebrity jungle. It’s been a whirlwind. 

'Thank you to @itv for the experience and sending so much love to my Jungle Fam before the final tonight. Sorry I can’t be there to celebrate with you all ❤️'.

Tulisa shocked fans by not staying at the £1,000-a-night JW Marriott on Australia’s Gold Coast, where her fellow evicted campmates are staying until the final.

Despite suggestions that she had fallen out with her friends that she had put in charge of her social media, insiders have now claimed that she left Australia over struggles with her mental health.

In a video earlier this month, Tulisa addressed her fans for the first time. 

Speaking on Instagram, she said: 'I'm just doing a little video to clear a couple things up. Just so you know, when I came out of the jungle, I felt fine first of all and then that evening my friends went to bed.

'But because it's been a while for me I can get overwhelmed quite easily. 

'I just started to feel overwhelmed. I thought, "Do you know what, I really just need to take a bit of time for me and just chill."

'You know, it's OK to feel a little bit overwhelmed. I've been out of the spotlight for a long time. 

'I'm still trying to overcome those things. I've still got my little demons.'

Reports surfaced Tulisa had a bust-up in the hotel after she was evicted from the show with her best friends, Michelle McKenna and her boyfriend, Daniel Johnson - something which her representatives have denied.

It was said she was not happy with how her best friends ran her Instagram while in the Jungle, deeming their posts about her to be 'inappropriate'.

A source told MailOnline: 'They were only in Australia because of Tulisa. It felt like they were revelling in the situation and taking liberties with her kindness.

'Michelle and Daniel were there, on a trip funded by ITV and only because of Tulisa. They were there because of her and she trusted them with her social media.

'When she got out of the jungle and saw what had been put on there, she was upset and it prompted a huge row. You can't help but think that seeing her friends living it up like that while she was roughing it in the jungle must have really annoyed her.

'They were in a five-star hotel, with most expenses paid, so it does all feel a little bit rotten for Tulisa,' they added.

'She is so upset. She was distraught to see what had been posted and she wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible.'

The I Need You singer furiously deleted all trace of her time in the Jungle and did not attend any of her scheduled appearances with ITV.

The Ouch singer pulled out of joining I'm A Celebrity… Unpacked with Joel Dommett, Kemi Rodgers and Sam Thompson the day after she was evicted, citing 'personal reasons'.

Tulisa later took to her Instagram stories denying she had argued with Michelle and Dan. 

However, she still appeared in I'm A Celebrity's spin-off show Coming Out. 

In the Coming Out show, the celebrities are followed with cameras from the moment they leave camp, with Tulisa only being filmed for a short period before she fled Australia.