I'm A Celeb star Tulisa's famous dad makes heartbreaking admission about her childhood

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! prima Tulisa Contostavlos endured a 'tough' upbringing wherever she was near 'terrified' to spell to schoolhouse from a young property aft being tormented by bullies

I'm A Celebrity fans are lone conscionable realising that Tulisa Contostavlos takes aft her celebrated father.

The N-Dubz singer, 36, has euphony successful her humor arsenic her dada is Steve Contostavlos, who changeable to fame successful the seventies with his blues set Mungo Jerry. Better known by his alias Plato, helium played the keyboard portion his member Byron - who was Tulisa's uncle and begetter of her relative and chap N-Dubz prima Dappy - played bass guitar successful the group.

They had a immense Number 1 deed with the opus "In The Summertime," released successful 1970. Tulisa, a budding musician, nary uncertainty turned to her dada for guidance erstwhile starting retired successful the hip-hop trio, which she joined astatine property 11.

And it is not the lone clip the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! campmate has leaned connected her dad, 65, for support. She endured a pugnacious puerility increasing up successful Camden, North London, wherever she was relentlessly bullied astatine schoolhouse implicit her mum's intelligence health.

Her mum, Ann, suffered from schizophrenia, which saw her successful and retired of infirmary arsenic she slipped into ­terrifying psychotic episodes, leaving her incapable to look aft herself, fto unsocial her ­daughter. Children successful her people began to tease Tulisa astir her mother's condition, leaving her to sob for days implicit their taunts.

Plato revealed to the Sunday Mirror that helium taught her to instrumentality up for herself. "My girl was ­horribly bullied. It was awful. Children would scream, 'Your mum's a loony'," he said successful 2012. "Tulisa was astir 5 years aged erstwhile it archetypal started. She would travel location crying each the time.

"In the extremity I had to archer her, 'I can’t spell and benignant this occupation retired for you. This is the benignant of happening you are going to look successful beingness and you person to basal up for yourself'.

"Then 1 time erstwhile she was astir seven, aft I had trained her for astir six months, she came backmost from schoolhouse and said, ‘Dad I knocked 1 of them out. You were close Dad, I did it'. It had to beryllium done, the misery that kid went done astatine schoolhouse was ­unbelievable. Every clip she went successful she was terrified."

He believes it was the commencement of her processing a pugnacious exterior, particularly aft having to fend for herself arsenic Plato and Ann divided erstwhile she was conscionable nine. The bullying didn't halt completely, however, truthful Plato decided to determination her to a caller school.

He added: "She went done a lot, that's wherefore she has go who she is, it made her the occurrence she is. It's unthinkable that she has achieved what she has considering everything. Her puerility was unbelievably tough."

Tulisa's ordeal didn't extremity determination arsenic she excessively suffered with her intelligence wellness arsenic she grew older, admitting she became depressed arsenic she struggled to navigate her teens with an sick mother. Talking astir his ex-wife Ann's condition, which she developed astatine a young age, Plato explained: "I didn't cognize astir it, but aft Tulisa was calved I got the daze of my life.

"She would beryllium specified a beauteous idiosyncratic but past it would footwear in. It was horrible, truly brainsick stuff. It was truthful achy for Tulisa and I to spot mothers walking happily down the thoroughfare with their children without a attraction successful the world.

"But I retrieve erstwhile she was 13, Tulisa came to maine and said, 'I recognize now, Dad'. She had grown up and she could spot with her ain eyes what was going on. When she was a small girl, she conscionable didn't understand, and it severely ­affected her."

Opening up astir the strain it had connected her, Tulisa said successful 2011: "I'm a beardown miss but I inactive suffered with depression."

*I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! continues contiguous from 9pm connected ITV1