Tulisa's former boyfriend has spoken out after she revealed she has been celibate for three years because she's "proper guarded"

He told The Sun: "She has always been like that. She's always been like a hermit crab that goes inside its shell, you go too close to it, it goes back inside its shell.

"Her whole life, any sort of relationship that she's been in has always been long-term for that person, it's never been short-term.

"What she's saying is absolutely true - that's just how she feels.

"It's like she wants to meet people, but there's something inside her that doesn't let her meet people."

Tulisa and Fazer have remained friends and he had some advice for any of her future romantic partners.

He said: "To any of her future partners: make sure you just take it slow and make sure you've got an emotional connection first."

Tulisa made her dating revelation on 'I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!' during a chat with her campmates.

When talk turned to dating apps, Tulisa confessed: "I've only done [celebrity dating app] Raya. I'm not really a dater, even though I've been on there, I've never gone on an actual date with anyone on there ... I'm proper guarded."

Tulisa went on to reveal she thinks of herself as "demisexual" - needing a strong emotional bond with a partner prior to intimacy - and hasn't had sex in more than three years.

She said: "I feel like I'm demisexual, I need to have a really close emotional bond with someone ... I need actual depth. I'm a slow, slow burner, I've been celibate for over three years.

"I'm not an overly sexualised person. For me, it's all about the connection and the emotions that I feel with someone and then wanting to express them in that way."

She added that meeting someone new makes her feel "physically sick", joking: "This is my temple, you cannot enter!"