Tulisa's career started long before she took her famed seat next to Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Kelly Rowland on The X Factor.
As one third of London hip hop trio N-Dubz, Tulisa first found fame as an 18-year-old when the group released their debut single 'You Better Not Waste My Time' in 2006. A year later, they won Best Newcomer at the MOBO Awards and by 2009 they had a top ten album and a number one single.
However, it was Tulisa's decision to sign with the biggest entertainment show on TV in 2011 that really made her a household name. That and her iconic 'the female boss' tattoo, which lays proudly in cursive font along her forearm.
Between her spats with Gary Barlow, Little Mix becoming the first band to win the show under her mentorship and her friendship with Louis Walsh, in two short years Tulisa cemented her status as an X Factor icon - and the show's youngest ever judge.
Here's everything Tulisa has said about her experience on The X Factor.
Tulisa manifested the job
'I manifested it,' she told Olivia Attwood on her podcast, So Wrong It's Right. 'I looked at that job and said I’m gonna have that job. That job is mine. Me, Gary [Barlow], Kelly [Rowland] and Louis [Walsh].'
She was the youngest ever judge on the show
At just 23, Tulisa was the show's youngest judge. She replaced Cheryl who was five years older than her and joined Gary, who was 40 at the time, Kelly, who was 29 at the time, and Louis, who was 59. In 2012, Kelly was replaced by Nicole Scherzinger who was 32 when she joined.
'You have to imagine as well, when I said to myself "I’m gonna get this job" and I got to the point where I’m sat in Simon Cowell’s house saying to him "If you don’t hire me it’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in your life", sparking up a fag as well.
'But I knew he was gonna like that. I was 22. I was the youngest judge ever at that time. He hired me on the spot. I walked out of that house like "f*ck, I really need to do this."'
Tulisa got on best with Louis Walsh
Tulisa said she got on best with Louis Walsh because 'he’s just giggly and funny and he saw how young I was and had that sense of wanting to protect me. He had my back'.
Gary said he could smell her 'fag ash breath' live on TV
After Gary's contestant Christopher Maloney's performance, Tulisa asked, 'How many of these eighties classics are you going to let him destroy?' Gary turned to her and replied, 'I don't know what offends me more, those comments or that fag ash breath.'
Gary was forced to apologise on The Xtra Factor and said, '‘Can I apologise to Tulisa? I mean it. You have the freedom to be as personal as you like for the rest of the series – insult me.’
Despite the awkward (and cruel) moment, Tulisa has said there was never any bad blood between her and Gary. 'We're totally fine. We were never not speaking in the first place. I can handle it.'
She reached new heights of fame on the show
In 2023 while reflecting on her time on the show she said, 'I wasn’t prepared for that level of celebrity, and it was a massive shock.'
'I expected fame to be glorious and there are parts of it that are still amazing to this day,' she told The Guardian last year, 'but I think the kind of fame that you experience depends on what sort of character you are, how out there your personal life is. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for me, but I wouldn’t change any of it.'
Tulisa mentored Little Mix and they went on to win
Tulisa looked after the first band to win the show and Leigh-Anne Pinnock has credited her for 'having their backs' on the show.
The N-Dubz star told The Guardian, 'Being Little Mix’s mentor in 2011 and following their journey – I still see the girls – was incredible.'
She was criticised for her behaviour on set in the media
'I don’t like it when people lie that I was f’ing and blinding during my X Factor interview,' the singer told Capital FM. '(Or) that I trashed my Miami hotel room. Oh, and apparently the producers were angry because I was partying too much. Twice the producers have rung me late at night and I’ve already gone to bed. And I’m meant to be the wildest judge!'
Tulisa was relentlessly judged during her time on the show
Speaking to Company magazine about the negative press attention she received during her two years on the show she said, 'I’ve been put down a lot in my life and that can either make you depressed, upset and introverted or you don’t care anymore.
'I’ve had the worst things said to me – w****, chav... My problem is I’ll defend myself and say something naughty back on Twitter.'
She was almost banned from her signature pose after being accused of promoting her perfume
At the start of each episode the judges made their grand entrance through the gigantic sliding X doors and some of them took the opportunity to adopt a signature pose (remember Cheryl's miniature salute? Or Simon's cursed wink?). Tulisa, or should we say The Female Boss, always lifted up her forearm to show off her tattoo.
Apparently, Ofcom considered investigating whether she was illegally promoting her new perfume with her tattoo. The media regulator received complaints that her 'overt display of her tattoo' breaks strict rules on the promotion and reference of commercial products by talent, given that she had recently launched a product with The Perfume Shop called 'TFB'.
Tulisa was cleared of any wrongdoing by Ofcom.
Tulisa apologised to former contestant Misha B after calling her a 'bully'
In 2020, Misha B opened up about being painted as an 'angry black girl' on the show and said she went on to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. She said, 'They saw an opportunity to tear down a black girl that came from a broken home and worked together to assassinate my character and to sabotage my career by orchestrating lies.'
Tulisa, who called her 'feisty' and 'mean' during an episode, later responded on Instagram. 'I regret calling her out publicly like I did,' the former judge said, while calling claims of racism 'ludicrous'.
'If I was the person I am today, who is more emotionally intelligent, who has more life experience, I would have handled it in a very different way. I didn't think of emotional consequences. And that I am truly sorry for and I deeply regret.
'I didn't wake up and go, 'I want to cause some drama for Misha B because of the colour of her skin. She did some things that I felt I needed to pull her up on. But please believe me when I tell you I do not have a racist bone in my body.'
After 12 years Tulisa was ready to return to ITV
In an interview with Fault magazine ahead of entering the I'm A Celeb jungle Tulisa said, 'I've never wanted to [go on the show]. I actually was at a point where I was like, "I would never, ever do this."
'But we're all forever evolving and growing and I just got to a point in my life where I was just in my f**k it era. I was like, "Does it seem really uncomfortable?" Yeah. "Is it super exciting?" Yes.'
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).