It’s only been one episode but I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! is truly back with plenty of us already eagerly awaiting tonight’s (18 November) fix.

So, in the meantime we’ve been fixating on bits of trivia from Rebekah Vardy making a dig at the detective icon Coleen Rooney to why the stars no longer have phone numbers on their backs.

And, of course, there’s the reasoning behind Tulisa’s tattoo as we celebrated her bringing back that pose last night. But that’s not the only thing the N-Dubz singer has us chatting about as many I’m A Celeb viewers were left stunned after learning how old the star really is.

I'm A Celeb marks her TV comeback. (ITV)
I’m A Celeb marks her TV comeback. (ITV)

As well as releasing bangers with the group and tunes like ‘Young’ as a soloist, Tulisa is probably best-known for her time spent as a judge on The X Factor from 2011 to 2012.

But what you probably don’t realise is just how young she was back then.

Recently appearing on Olivia Attwood’s So Wrong It’s Right podcast, Tulisa explained how she was just 22-years-old when she landed a spot on the judging panel.

“I was the youngest judge ever at the time,” she said.

Looking back, she describes the time as a ‘whirlwind’ and just ‘bizarre’.

“I manifested it – I looked at that job and I thought, ‘I’m going to have that job, that job is mine,’” the singer added.

Tulisa revealed she told Simon Cowell that if he didn’t hire her for the show, it would be ‘the biggest mistake he’d ever make in his life’.

“But I knew he was going to like that energy,” she added. “He hired me on the spot.”

Yep, those years as a kid watching Tulisa judging on The X Factor, thinking she’s some fully grown adult, she was just a young 20 something old.

Tulisa was just 22 when she landed her judging job. (ITV)
Tulisa was just 22 when she landed her judging job. (ITV)

So, fast forward to her making her TV comeback on I’m A Celeb now and she’s at the age of 36 – younger than you thought, right?

Celebrating her 35th birthday last year, she posted a snap of her eating cake to Instagram as fans praised: “You don’t look a day over 21.”

As others were stunned: “No way are you 35!”

And as she graced our screens last night, fans continued the praise: “Yes let’s not forget that Tulisa was an X Factor judge for Little Mix at age 23.. Dean is right, she is really is full of wisdom.”

Another put: “People forget how iconic Tulisa is, she was a judge on the X Factor at age 23! Not only that, she was the mentor for Little Mix and Ella Henderson.”

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