Published Tuesday, 14 August 2012
The N-Dubz star was devastated when film footage of her engaged in an intimate act with her former partner Justin Edwards circulated on the Internet in March.
After initially trying to play down the incident, Contostavlos eventually spoke out in a message to fans posted on YouTube - and she was glad when the tactic swung public opinion in her favour and garnered sympathy from critics in her native U.K.
The singer tells The Times Magazine, "I'm so happy I did that, I really am. I think things would have panned out very differently if I hadn't. I said, 'It's out there now, what can I do?'. People saw I had nothing to hide."