Tulisa Contostavlos has denied tabloid reports that she has been fired from "The X Factor" U.K.'s judging panel. She also says she still wants to be a judge on the show in 2013.
In an interview in the Sunday People's issue dated March 17, 2013, Contostavlos said, "I haven’t been axed from 'The X Factor.' I love the show, I’d always want to do it. Last year was much harder than my first series but I did enjoy it. I’ve contacted Simon [Cowell] and had dinner with show producer Richard Holloway and his wife a couple of weeks ago. We’re all friends and I’ve not been told that I won’t be going back.”
Contostavlos' denial is in direct contrast to The Sun's report that "X Factor" U.K. bosses told Contostavlos that she was fired sometime in late February 2013.
In the Sunday People interview, Contostavlos said that even though she sometimes had personality conflicts with "The X Factor" U.K. judge Gary Barlow, those arguments were left on stage and didn't carry over behind the scenes.
Contostavlos stated, "I’m realistic. If Simon had called to say I was sacked, I’d say. If there were issues, I’d say. I love speaking the truth as I feel like nobody else does it. I’m not one to hold back. Simon and I are cool with each other, it doesn’t all go as deep as people think. Gary and I had our on-screen spats but we’d come off the stage and it would be cool. There weren’t really any spats backstage.”
Contostavlos, Barlow, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh were "The X Factor" U.K. judges in 2012. Representatives for the show won't say yet who will be on the judging panel in 2013, but the announcement should be made by May.
British tabloids have been reporting for months that Contostavlos is getting fired from "The X Factor." Many of the these tabloids have also reported that Sharon Osbourne is in talks to replace Contostavlos. Osbourne, who was a judge on "The X Factor" U.K. from 2004 to 2007, has not publicly commented on these reports. There has been speculation that Osbourne will go back to "The X Factor" U.K. ever since she said on Twitter in August 2012 that she wanted to go back to being a judge on the show in 2013.
Barlow and Contostavlos joined "The X Factor" U.K. in May 2011. The Daily Mirror reported in the issue dated Feb. 28, 2013, that Barlow is likely to renew his contract because he has ended his feud with Cowell.
Scherzinger, who joined the show's judging panel in June 2012, has said in recent interviews that it's "up in the air" whether or not she will continue to be an "X Factor" U.K. judge.
Walsh has been an "X Factor" U.K. judge since the show debuted in 2004. And even though every year there are rumors that Walsh is going to be fired (and it did happen in 2007 when he was briefly fired for a few episodes and then rehired), he has remained on the show, year after year.
In addition to commenting on her employment status with "The X Factor," Contostavlos also opened up to the Sunday People about her long-distance relationship with soccer player Danny Simpson, whom she's been dating since October 2012. (Simpson and Contostavlos live 200 miles apart.)
Contostavlos commented to the Sunday People about Simpson: “He’s hot, isn’t he? I think he is a keeper, I don’t want another failed relationship. I like to go into relationships hoping that they’re forever. We live far apart but we joke that we see each other more than our friends see their boyfriends and girlfriends.
"We make the effort, if you want to make something work then you will. Whenever he can and whenever I physically can, we’re together. We never go four days without seeing one another. I’m going to L.A. tomorrow which will be the longest time I have not seen him for but absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
As previously reported, Contostavlos, 24, reunited on March 3, 2013, with her long-lost half-brother Neil Jones, 35, whose biological parents were unwed teens who gave him up for adoption when he was a baby. (Jones and Contostavlos have the same father.)
Contostavlos commented to the Sunday People about her happy reunion with Jones: “It’s amazing that I now know my brother. He found my dad. I’ve been on the road since we met but we’ve spoken every day, I have got two beautiful nieces, they’re 8 and 4 which is so lovely, they’re stunners. We’re all building up a lovely relationship which I never thought I’d have. It’s wonderful, especially after all of these years. I can’t wait to see him again soon.”
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