Tulisa: Ex O'Connell was my rock (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Tulisa: Ex O'Connell was my rock

11:07am Monday 24th September 2012 in National Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Tulisa Contostavlos has revealed how Jack O'Connell helped her gain her strength back, after her sex tape ordeal.

The X Factor judge admitted she was "devastated" by her ex-boyfriend Justin Edwards' betrayal, when he released the infamous video of them together online, reported The Sun.

"It hit me like a train. I couldn't stop crying. It was like my whole world was ending," the 24-year-old said in an extract from her biography Honest, My Story So Far.

"For the next few days, I wouldn't leave the flat. I spoke to PA Gareth and my lawyers, no one else. The thought of speaking to my family, my mum and dad, filled me with dread. So I retreated to the bathroom to curl up in a ball on the floor. I slept there for days like when I'd been upset when I was a kid."

Tulisa was worried that her position on The X Factor would be jeopardised by the raunchy footage.

"It felt as though there was a massive axe swinging above my head. My job as a judge on The X Factor was to smile and be smart and funny. But underneath I was petrified of being made to look like some kind of slapper in front of the nation," she said.

"I would try to put the whole thing out of my mind but it would creep back - it was pretty much all-consuming."

The former N-Dubz singer decided to tell her side of the story on YouTube, despite her management's disapproval, and sought comfort from ex-Skins star Jack, whom she had started dating. The couple split in June after dating for three months.

"As soon as I saw him, everything started to feel better, easier. For the next three weeks he never left my side. And as time went on I started to feel stronger," she recalled.