N-Dubz had some of the biggest hits but along with the fame came scandals for musician Dappy . Although the Camden-based trio took a break from the music industry in 2011, they reunited in 2022 and toured across the country performing some of their biggest hits. This was Tulisa's first time back in the spotlight since 2019 after taking a brief hiatus from the industry.
However, upon reuniting two years ago, the band went on to release their fourth studio album. Although Tulisa has been in and out of the limelight, her bandmate and cousin Dappy, whose real name is Costadinos Contostavlos has remained in the public gaze and has often found himself under fire. As Tulisa prepares to relaunch herself in the I'm A Celebrity .
.. Get Me Out Of Here! camp, we look at Dappy's controversies and what he's up to now.
Although Dappy is best known for his catchy tunes and his dress sense, most famously the 'Dappy hat' which saw thousands of Brits rocking a woolly chullo during N-Dubz's reign on the charts, he's also made a name following the controversies surrounding him. In 2007, the No Regrets hitmaker was convicted of battery in 2007. Just one year later, he pleaded guilty to two counts of assault at Chelmsford Magistrates Court, Essex, after he allegedly spat in a woman's face while drunk on a night out.
Following his guilty plea, he received four weeks imprisonment, suspended for one year and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service. Dappy was also made to pay £50 compensation to the woman and her friends, as well as £300 in costs. However, this isn't the only controversy Dappy has faced.
In 2010, he appeared on BBC Radio 1's The Chris Moyles Show alongside his bandmates, Fazer and Tulisa. One listener from Boston, Lincolnshire, texted into the studio and hit out at Dappy, branding him "vile" and "a little boy with a silly hat," before branding the band "losers". This riled the musician who secretly copied the listeners phone number from the studio machines and later attempted to call her and sent threatening messages.
His management apologised on Dappy's behalf and offered free tickets to one of his concerts, but he has not apologised to the woman personally. As a result of Dappy's actions, N-Dubz were subsequently dropped from the Government's anti-bullying "R U Cyber Safe?" campaign. Three years later and he once again found himself at the centre of drama after a jury at Guildford Crown Court found him guilty of assault and affray.
He was given a six month suspended sentence. One year later, he hit a man in Chelmsford and was convicted of common assault and received a fine. In September of the same year, he was convicted of assault and was given a two month suspended prison sentence.
But in 2017, Dappy was convicted of possession of a bladed article in a public place following an incident with his partner. He was subsequently handed a suspended prison sentence. Although he was once happy with the mother of his children, Kaye Vassell, she later moved on and found love again – with a convicted triple murderer.
Kaye fell in love with Deandra Buchanan who had previously featured in the Netflix documentary, I Am A Killer. Kaye had not been able to meet her fiancé who was serving time at the Jefferson City Correctional Center, Missouri for the murder of his stepdad, aunt and girlfriend at a party in November 2000. Although Tulisa has a strong LGBTQ+ fanbase, Dappy once came underfire for hurling homophobic messages at a fan via Instagram.
In 2022 when N Dubz announced reunion tickets had gone on sale, a TikTok user replied to Dappy saying: "It's not 2009, no one cares." However, this caused the rapper to see red. The musician hit back with a string of homophobic slurs and threats of violence.
A message from Dappy read: "U absolute no body," as a second read: "Batty boy." "Suck ya mudda u no body," Dappy added before commented: "I would slap u soooo hard. Little tramp.
" However, the man who Dappy messaged later commented: "I was trying to annoy him," before sharing his response of: "OMG okay daddy x," to which Dappy appears to respond with: "Little batty boy." The messages continued to see Dappy say: "I hateeee people like u. Like why the f**k are u msgn me if u don't like me.
Abuse too," before another message read: "How disgusting of u." Although the N-Dubz tour was a success and sold out across the nation, Dappy, however, was not impressed and threatened to "twist the head off" his management team and "slap" the accountants. Taking to his Instagram Stories in view of his followers totalling over 360,000 he fumed in now-deleted posts: "Since ndubz came back I wasn't paid a penny in any way form or shape!!! F**k ndubz and f*****g everyone who helped manage them.
I'll never write another song or bar with ndubz again. "I'm gonna twist your head off your shoulders when I catch you [redacted], accountant [redacted] I'm slapping you sooo hard too you little f**k boy. I want my breadddd.
" It was claimed that the tour budget was "way over what we expected" and there were "no funds available to Dappy." The alleged dispute, which the team were working to resolve was said to be focused on cash allegedly sent in error to their management. Currently, Dappy hasn't released music since his 2021 single, Wounds, w hich failed to chart, wit his his last EP being released in December 2015, hitting number 150 on the UK charts.
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Tulisa's bandmate Dappy - where is he amid I'm A Celeb? Assault and major band feud
N-Dubz were once the hottest trio in the music business but after taking time away, Tulisa is relaunching herself in the I'm A Celeb jungle – but where's her cousin Dappy now?