Heartwarming reason why I'm A Celeb's Tulisa changed her name
I'm A Celeb's Tulisa had a different name when she was born, and she's revealed the sentimental meaning behind it.
Tulisa stepped into the jungle last night (November 17) as fan-favourite I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! has returned to ITV.
She became one of two camp leaders alongside Alan Halsall, who plays Tyrone in Coronation Street, after the duo competed in a race canoeing across a lake.
Their victory brought them the power to nominate a duo for the first trial, and also some relatively comfier beds than everyone else in camp.
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The female boss admitted that people's perception of her will change throughout the show, and she certainly got off to a good start.
Before going on the hit show, she was a guest on Olivia Attwood's So Wrong it's Right podcast, where she delved into her career.
One of the first bombshell revelations made was that Tulisa wasn't her real name.
And after following her entire life in the spotlight, fans were surprised to find out this hidden fact.
Attwood said: "Tulisa is not your actual name?"
The former X Factor judge replied: "No it's not, you're the first person to bring that up ever, I love that."
The singer revealed that her real name was in fact Tula - so, not a million miles away from what we know her as today.
Explaining why, she said: "My grandma is called Tula, so I was named after her.
"But Tulisa means tiny Tula in Greek.
"So that ended up being my nickname anyway growing up."
She jokingly noted that the pronunciations of Tulisa in Greek and British are quite different, with Attwood noting that 'we butcher it'.
Throughout the interview, she opened up about some of the toughest moments in her career, including her 2020 diagnosis of Bell's palsy.
The condition involves a type of facial paralysis, where the muscles in the affected side of the face are hard to move on a temporary basis.
She also added that, earlier this year, three 'chronically infected cysts' were found in her cheek area by doctors during an explorative operation, claiming medics had 'no idea' what the cause was.
Rylan Clark has since spoken out to defend the singer, after the first episode of I'm a Celeb aired last night.
He posted: "Before people start going for appearance, Tulisa has been through a lot health wise the last few years so let’s not make sh** jokes about her on Twitter (X) yeah."
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Topics: ITV, Im A Celebrity, Tulisa, Olivia Attwood
Mia Williams