Tulisa Withdraws from Pride Event After Father’s Death

Tulisa has pulled out of a Pride event after her father and renowned musician Steve Contostavlos passed away earlier this week.

Known as Plato, the keyboard player, played for the band Mungo Jerry and was thought to be around 65 years old.

And now Tulisa has revealed she will be stepping back from work commitments as she comes to terms with the loss. 

The N-Dubz star was due to perform at The Clapham Grand on Saturday night, however on Wednesday the venue took to Instagram as they confirmed she will no longer be part of the lineup. 

They penned: ‘PRIDE UPDATE… We are sorry to announce that due to a family bereavement, Tulisa will understandably no longer be joining us for our Pride After Party on Saturday.

‘We are sending Tulisa and her family all of our love. ❤️ We will be announce a new special guest later today and look forward to welcoming you all to our Pride Parties this Saturday.’

Grieving Tulisa has pulled out of a Pride event at Clapham Grand as she steps back from work commitments following her famous dad’s tragic death earlier this week (pictured at Pride in 2019)

 

Tulisa marked his passing on Tuesday as she posted a childhood image showing her snuggling with her dad and the words: ‘Love you pops, rest in peace. Forever my father’s daughter’

On Tuesday Tulia took to Instagram on Tuesday to share an emotional tribute for her late dad as she posted a childhood image of the pair snuggled up together. 

She penned: ‘Love you pops, rest in peace. Forever my father’s daughter.’

The singer’s heartfelt post was met with a plethora of sympathetic messages from her showbiz pals and followers.  

Heartbroken Dappy, 38, also previously shared the sad news as he posted a video of himself with his uncle, alongside a white dove.

Tulisa commented on the post with a broken heart emoji and Dappy, real name Costadinos Contostavlos, wrote: ‘I’m so sorry T.’ 

It is not known how Plato passed away. 

In 2024, Tulisa opened up about her unconventional relationship with her father.

She told Paul C Brunson on his We Need To Talk podcast: ‘Me and my dad’s relationship has not been a conventional one.

The N-Dubz star was due to perform at The Clapham Grand on Saturday night, however on Wednesday the venue confirmed she will no longer be part of the lineup

The keyboard player, who went by the name of Plato, played for the band Mungo Jerry (pictured in 2011) 

Heartbroken Dappy [L], also previously shared the sad news as he posted a video of himself with his uncle, alongside a white dove [the pair pictured with N-Dubz bandmate Fazer in 2023]

Dappy seen fishing with his late uncle in 2015

Tulisa’s heartfelt post was met with a plethora of sympathetic messages from her showbiz pals and followers

‘I would say me and my dad now we’re just more friends that kind of have an understanding of one another.’

Meanwhile, she spoke of her dad’s influence on her musical career during a chat on Ferne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast.

She shared: ‘My dad had a little studio in Dollis Hill and he used to bring me there sometimes when he was working. He put me on the mic at the age of five. I was singing Little Mermaid.

‘I just knew there was nothing else I felt passionate about.’

That same year, I’m A Celebrity fans were stunned to discover her father was also famous. 

They were surprised to discover her dad was a keyboard player from the band Mungo Jerry. 

The rock group was formed by Ray Dorset in 1970 and they were famed for their hit In The Summertime. 

Tulisa’s uncle – her bandmate Dappy’s father – Byron was the bassist for the band and later became the manager of N-Dubz. 

Commenting on her musical heritage, fans wrote: ‘Did you know that Tulisa and Dappy’s uncle was in Mungo Jerry of In The Summertime fame?’ 

‘I did not know that Tulisa Contostavlos’ dad was the keyboard player in Mungo Jerry.’ 

‘Little piece of trivia. Tulisa’s father and uncle were in the band Mungo Jerry.’ 

The Contostavlos family left Africa in the Seventies and moved to London where they lived in a six-bedroom house in leafy Brondesbury, with Tulisa’s grandfather a senior diplomat with the United Nations.

After touring the world with Mungo Jerry, Plato returned to London. He got together with Tulisa’s mother, Ann Byrne, in 1984, and Tulisa was born four years later.

In 2024, Tulisa opened up about her unconventional relationship with her father

‘I would say me and my dad now we’re just more friends that kind of have an understanding of one another’

‘My dad had a little studio in Dollis Hill and he used to bring me there sometimes when he was working. He put me on the mic at the age of five. I was singing Little Mermaid’ [Tulisa pictured with her father]

A talented singer and impressionist, Ann enjoyed fleeting success with her sisters Louisa, Paula and Moira in 1980s swing band Jeep.

There was also an appearance on short-lived talent show Go For It, in which she performed as Hollywood screen icon Marilyn Monroe.

Unbeknown to Plato, however, Ann had suffered a mental breakdown two years before they met.

Later diagnosed as a schizoaffective disorder, the condition was triggered again when Tulisa was two and Ann began suffering from hallucinations. 

Ann’s condition continued to deteriorate, meaning she spent regular periods in the psychiatric unit at the nearby Royal Free Hospital.

It was a devastating time for the family, with Plato looking after Tulisa on his own and his daughter unable at first to understand why her mother was not at home. 

The couple split up when Tulisa was 10.

After the break-up, Plato moved in with his parents at their £1.2 million five-bedroom house in West Hampstead, while Tulisa stayed with her mother.

The singer was thrust into the role of primary carer for her mum who battled a combination of bipolar and schizophrenia. 

A talented singer and impressionist, Ann enjoyed fleeting success with her sisters Louisa, Paula and Moira in 1980s swing band Jeep (L-R: Ann, Louisa, Paula and Moira Byrne)

Back in 2012, Plato told how he taught Tulisa to stand up for herself after she faced relentless bullying in school over her mother’s mental illness. 

He told the Sunday Mirror: ‘My daughter was horribly bullied. It was awful. Children would scream, “Your mum’s a loony”. Tulisa was about five years old when it first started. She would come home crying all the time.

‘In the end I had to tell her, ‘I can’t go and sort this problem out for you. This is the kind of thing you are going to face in life and you have to stand up for yourself’.

‘Then one day when she was about seven, after I had trained her for about six months, she came back from school and said, “Dad I knocked one of them out. You were right Dad, I did it”. It had to be done, the misery that child went through at school was unbelievable. Every time she went in she was terrified.’