I'm A Celebrity's Tulisa - Where 'Fake Sheikh' Mazher Mahmood is now after drugs trial
N-Dubz star Tulisa Contostavlos is currently lending a sympathetic ear to her fellow campmates on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here as everyone gets to know each other and share their personal stories. Before she headed into the jungle, the singer revealed that she saw the show as a new beginning following stressful events in her own life, including the false accusations she was subjected to in the past by Mazher Mahmood, a journalist known as the Fake Sheikh.
Speaking exclusively to OK!, Tulisa said: “It’s been a journey. And there is no choice in coping. You either fight or you fall. And so I’ve overcome things that, you know, I didn’t realise I was capable of overcoming.”
Tulisa became embroiled in allegations made by journalist Mazher Mahmood, who was dubbed The Fake Sheikh after he went undercover and posed as an Arab sheikh to obtain information. In 2013, she was arrested by police on suspicion of supplying Class-A drugs after Mahmood and his associates targeted the singer and told her an influential film producer wanted her to star in a blockbuster movie.
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After meeting Mahmood at a London hotel, she allegedly arranged for Mahmood to be sold £820 worth of cocaine, evidence that was then handed to police and saw her facing trial. She bravely fought back, and exposed Mahmood’s methods.
During the trial, Mahmood was found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice after his driver Alan Smith changed a police statement to remove comments that the singer made to him expressing her disapproval of hard drugs. The case against Tulisa collapsed, and Mahmood was jailed for 15 months after being found guilty of evidence tampering.
Before this, Mahmood had worked on the Sunday Times and tabloid News of the World, where his investigations led to a reported 94 convictions. He was known for uncovering injustices, but he was also criticised for setting up stings in which he posed as the Arab businessman to get a story.
Among the celebrities who became his targets was model Jodie Kidd, who spoke about her experiences in the 2023 Prime Video documentary series The Fake Sheikh. She said getting to know him was “the biggest mistake of my life,” after she was branded a “coke fixer” on the front pages following a meeting with him.
Following his conviction in 2016 and time in prison, Mahmood disappeared from public life and is not believed to be working as a journalist. However, in an interview with The Guardian in 2023, one of his associates, Paul Samrai, said that there is a rumour that Mahmood is still working, but writing under an assumed name.
