Former 'X Factor' judge Tulisa ordered to pay £70k for allegedly trashing rented flat
Tulisa Contostavlos has been ordered to pay over £70k in damages over claims she trashed her rented penthouse.
The former X Factor judge and N-Dubz star was accused by her landlord of leaving the three-bedroom apartment in north London in an “appalling unlettable condition”.
Tulisa, 31, lived in the brand-new penthouse between September 2014 and July 2016. When she moved out, she left the fridge door ripped off, the bathroom sink smashed and stains and cigarette burns on the carpets and the bath.
Read more: N-Dubz reunion is in the pipeline, according to Tulisa
Landlord Andrew Charalambous sued the star for the costs of repairing damage done and “the loss of the replacement tenant to whom he had agreed to let the flat after she vacated it”.
His barrister Max Thorowgood told the Central London County Court; “Miss Contostavlos, who is a pop star, had a lot of parties there.”
A lawyer representing Tulisa denied the charges and claimed: “She denies that any damage was caused by her or that any damage is over and above normal wear and tear.”
But Judge Saunders ordered that the singer pay Charalambous a total of £70,832 – plus interest and legal costs.
A spokesman told MailOnline: “Tulisa categorically denies these claims made about her and the damage to the property.
“Due to a paperwork error, Tulisa has not yet had the opportunity to put her evidence before the court which she was hoping to do at trial.
“This latest judgment effectively prevents Tulisa from giving her side of the story. Tulisa’s legal team are now appealing this decision and asking for a new date to be set.”
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Tulisa rose to fame with the group N-Dubz before being signed up by Simon Cowell to become a judge on The X Factor in 2011, where she mentored the winning girlband Little Mix.
Tulisa was arrested on suspicion of Class A drugs in 2013 but the case was dismissed in 2014 because the judge believed prosecution witness Mazher Mahmood, an undercover reporter for The Sun newspaper, had lied in court. Mahmood – known as the Fake Sheikh – was later jailed for tampering with evidence in Tulisa's drug trial.
Tulisa was convicted of assault in 2014 for hitting a celebrity blogger at a music festival a year earlier.
