I’m A Celebrity followers are shocked as they uncover Tulisa Contostavlos has a well-known dad

I’m A Celebrity fans have been left stunned after discovering Tulisa Contostavlos’ father is also famous. 

The N-Dubz singer, 36, is making her return to the spotlight in this series of the ITV show after a long hiatus. 

And viewers have taken to X to describe their surprise after discovering Tulisa’s dad is Plato – a keyboard player from the band Mungo Jerry. 

The rock group was formed by Ray Dorset in 1970 and they were famed for their hit In The Summertime. 

Tulisa’s uncle – her bandmate Dappy‘s father – Byron was the bassist for the band and later became the manager of N-Dubz. 

Commenting on her musical heritage, fans wrote: ‘Did you know that Tulisa and Dappy’s uncle was in Mungo Jerry of In The Summertime fame?’ 

‘I did not know that Tulisa Contostavlos’ dad was the keyboard player in Mungo Jerry.’ 

‘Little piece of trivia. Tulisa’s father and uncle were in the band Mungo Jerry.’ 

The Contostavlos family left Africa in the Seventies and moved to London where they lived in a six-bedroom house in leafy Brondesbury, with Tulisa’s grandfather a senior diplomat with the United Nations.

After touring the world with Mungo Jerry, Plato returned to London. He got together with Tulisa’s mother, Ann Byrne, in 1984, and Tulisa was born four years later.

A talented singer and impressionist, Ann enjoyed fleeting success with her sisters Louisa, Paula and Moira in 1980s swing band Jeep.

There was also an appearance on short-lived talent show Go For It, in which she performed as Hollywood screen icon Marilyn Monroe.

Unbeknown to Plato, however, Ann had suffered a mental breakdown two years before they met.

Later diagnosed as a schizoaffective disorder, the condition was triggered again when Tulisa was two and Ann began suffering from hallucinations. 

Ann’s condition continued to deteriorate, meaning she spent regular periods in the psychiatric unit at the nearby Royal Free Hospital.

It was a devastating time for the family, with Plato looking after Tulisa on his own and his daughter unable at first to understand why her mother was not at home. 

The couple split up when Tulisa was 10.

After the break-up, Plato moved in with his parents at their £1.2 million five-bedroom house in West Hampstead, while Tulisa stayed with her mother.

The singer was thrust into the role of primary carer for her mum who battled a combination of bipolar and schizophrenia. 

She was sent to the local comprehensive, Haverstock School, whose ex-pupils include Ed Miliband.

Detailing her mother’s symptoms in 2012 autobiography Honest, Tulisa wrote: ‘Mum was obsessive about locking our front door, and it was always locked from the inside with the keys still hanging in the door.

‘One morning I noticed that although the key was in the lock, it hadn’t been turned, and the door was actually unlocked.

‘Knowing that my mum would freak out and feel vulnerable if she spotted it, I turned the key and locked it myself. Within seconds my mum, hearing the jangle of the keys, came tearing out into the hall, screaming at me hysterically.’

She added: ‘I guess she thought I was trying to open the door and panicked, but went completely off the deep end, accusing me of wanting to make her ill, or even kill her, and it went on and on.

‘Incidents like this were a regular occurrence in our house, along with temper tantrums and mood swings.’

Appearing in the 2010 documentary, Tulisa explained that her mother’s illness had made her upbringing so difficult that she rebelled by drinking, taking drugs, joining a gang and even attempting suicide.

The singer revealed that she became depressed and started drinking as a teenager because her life ‘felt like a living hell.’

She went on to make multiple suicide attempts.

Tulisa admitted: ‘One of the worst things about dealing with my mum was how helpless and alone I felt at such a vulnerable age.’

Tulisa said she suffered bullying at school, which her father says was triggered by jealousy as she started to enjoy success with the Lickle Rinsers.

In the end, Plato took his daughter out of the school for a year, before she returned to another in the area, Quintin Kynaston.

She left at 16 before taking her GCSEs, but less than five years later had turned her life into a success.

 In 2007 Anne was finally diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and her behaviour has remained stable ever since.

•  If you have been affected by anything in this story, call the MIND info-line on: 0300 123 3393