Singer Tulisa Contostavlos's noticeable absence from Melvin Odoom's post-eviction meet-up has sparked intrigue. She also skipped the spin-off programme Unpacked, further fuelling speculation.
The N-Dubz star was also conspicuously absent from the daily confluence at the JW Marriott Hotel in Gold Coast, a gathering point filmed by ITV where chums of evicted participants usually appear. Although not present, insiders assure that Tulisa harbours "no bad blood" towards ITV or her fellow campmates, hinting that an explanation for her disappearance is imminent, reports the Mirror.
Jane Moore and Dean McCullough were spotted welcoming Melvin inside the hotel as he exited the Jungle, the fourth to do so this series. Adding to the curiosity is the absence of Tulisa's pair of friends who jetted out to support her during the show.
Anticipation was high for her appearance on the subsequent day's Unpacked episode, but Joel Dommett had to inform viewers: "Unfortunately, we don't have Tulisa on the show today."
Later, a programme insider confessed to the Mirror that her non-attendance was motivated by "personal reasons". All ousted stars are supposed to stay in the hotel until the end-week wrap bash and depart for home the Tuesday after.
Tulisa later confessed she needed some "me time" to chill as it was "all feeling a bit much at the moment".
She said: "Hey guys, I'm just doing a little video to clear a few things up. 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 my and just chill. This is all just feeling a bit much at the moment.
"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. 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."
She added: "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'm A Celebrity airs at 9pm every day on ITV1 and ITVX.
