Following her departure from the I’m a Celebrity jungle, campmate Tulisa Contostavlos has finally addressed why she deleted all evidence of the show from her Instagram, not appeared on spin-off show Unpacked and called her fellow campmates “fake”.
Earlier this week Tulisa was the third campmate to depart the jungle and after returning to civilisation she appeared on the Lorraine show virtually to discuss her time on the show. During her interview she was asked if she had made “friends for life” in the jungle and Tulisa said she questioned the sincerity of some of the friendships she made.
“100%, definitely made some friends for life. But I think the real test starts when you’re out, because a lot of people for the cameras were all pally-pally, but will you send those text messages, will you do the four-hour drive?” she said. “So the test of the friendships begin now, in a week’s time.”
Fans also noticed Tulisa had deleted all traces of I’m a Celebrity from her Instagram, in comparison to other departed campmates such as Dean McCullough and Jane Moore who still have lots of content from the show on their social media.
And last night (3rd December) Tulisa did not appear on the I’m a Celebrity spin-off show Unpacked, with host Joel Dommett addressing her absence saying: “Unfortunately we don’t have Tulisa on the show today.”
So what’s happened? Well Tulisa posted a video on Instagram this morning (4th December) explaining she needed to take some time out for herself after becoming overwhelmed from the response and comments she’s received since being back on social media after the jungle.
“Hey guys, I’m just doing a little video to clear a few things up,” she said in a video filmed on her phone from a hotel room. “When I first came out of the jungle, I felt fine first of all and then that evening, my friends went to bed and I was on my Instagram, just trying to have a casual scroll at some funny stuff. I was getting a lot of attention, a lot of bombarding – in all the most positive way, but because it’s been a bit of a while for me, I can get overwhelmed quite easily and I just started to feel a little bit overwhelmed. And I was like, do you know what? I need to just take a little bit of time for me and just chill. This is all just feeling a bit much at the moment.”
She continued that she had archived but not deleted her posts from her time on the show and wanted to create her own content about the show instead.
“I’m just going to archive all my stuff to do with the jungle and then, when the time is right and I’ve had time to process, I’m going to make my own reels of my best bits that I really like,” she explained. “Because remember, I haven’t been doing my Instagrams. The way it’s being posted and all the random stuff is not how I would do my Insta – I would have one or two really good reels relating to the jungle and bringing my time together there.”
Tulisa then expressed her thanks to ITV for supporting her mental health during this time, “But I just really wanted to clear up the reasons why that I did that and just be honest – it’s OK to feel a little bit overwhelmed. I’ve been out of the spotlight for a long time and I’m still trying to overcome those things, I’ve got my demons. It doesn’t mean I’m going to hide behind a rock for another ten years it just means I need a little bit of time to process it and get right with my thoughts. Thank you to ITV and I’m A Celeb for being really understanding. Mental health is really important and I am super grateful for the love and support that I’ve had.
“I’ve just felt overwhelmed. I’m an introvert, guys – I’ve been in the jungle with people I’d only just met for two and a half weeks straight and then I’ve come out and I’ve received loads and loads of attention and I’m like, ‘whoa – this is a lot!’ and I just need a bit of time.”
Tulisa also clarifying her comments about her fellow campmates not being true friends, and added: “And also, I just want to clarify – I don’t think any of my campmates are fake. I was having a conversation on Lorraine and what I was trying to say is – me thinking out loud – is everyone in there is gonna have one or two individuals that they are way more close with than others and when we get out is when you’re really going to see those friendships get nurtured and the people that are becoming your friends for life. I’m friends with everyone – I love my jungle buddies, my jungle fam.”
She ended the video by explaining she would be taking some time off social media to process her experience on the show and would be back soon.
The comment section was flooded with people expressing their support and wishing her well.
Here’s hoping Tulisa is doing OK.
I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here continues on ITV1 and ITVX