Tulisa Contostavlos has one less thing to worry about as Simon Cowell is standing by her in the wake of her sex tape scandal.

The former N-Dubz singer has been left humiliated after admitting she was the girl performing a sex act in the seven-minute clip which appeared online earlier this week.

Tulisa, who initially branded the footage a fake, made her confession to fans in an online video message, in which she spoke about her devastation at the clip becoming public and her ex-boyfriend Justin Edwards, who she blames for the leak.

The controversy sparked rumours that her job on The X Factor had been thrown into jeopardy, but the show's boss Simon Cowell insists the scandal won't affect her returning to the panel this year.

The music mogul has also angrily lashed out at the person who sold the sex tape.

He ranted to The Sun: "What she was doing was not illegal. You are allowed to do this stuff in your bedroom, but you don't want the tape to come out.

"Whoever he is, he's a scumbag - and I'm being really conservative with my words here.

"It's disgusting, repulsive. He's embarrassed her and he's got no right to put her in this position.

"He should literally find a hole and hide in it for the next week. It really, really annoys me. It's like, 'Who do you think you are?'

"It makes no difference with me about her coming back on the show - 100 per cent. I mean, God, if I said no [to her coming back] it's allowing every sleazebag in the country to wreck somebody's career when she didn't do something wrong.

"The public are very, very a) forgiving, and b) understanding. But I hope they don't forgive the person who did it."

Stars including Daisy Lowe, Aston Merrygold and Kirk Norcross also dedicated their support to Tulisa on Twitter.

Meanwhile, her former lover Justin denied leaking the tape.

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• Tulisa's US Adventure

  Tulisa arrived in LA at the beginning of February to record her debut album (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  And only a few days in to her trip, she was doing a Katie Price and getting her hair seen to by top US stylists (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  Getting her extennos sorted. (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  In between recording sessions there was enough time to hit the town. (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  Tulisa was all smiles on the trip despite her recent love split from boyfriend Fazer. (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  But she batted off the attention of admirers at a pre-Grammys party. (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  On her way out of the studio. (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  Tulisa's style offensive was also much talked about as she showed off a stylish American wardrobe. (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  Tulisa is so LA now she wears sunnies in the dark. (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  On Valentine's Day Tulisa headed straight out on the town after leaving the studio. (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  Partying with pals, it was a case of Fazer who? (Pic: Twitter)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  Never far from her side was her PA and best mate Gareth Varey who also had a tattoo of her name done in his leg during their trip. (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  (Pic: WENN)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  (Pic: Splash)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  And bumped into former <em>TOWIE</em> star Mark Wright. (Pic: Twitter)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  With debut single <em>We Are Young</em> in the can, it was time to film the video. (Pic: Splash)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  That's a lot of luggage there dear! (Pic: Splash)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  Getting cheeky on the shoot. (Pic: Splash)

• Tulisa's US Adventure

  And of course Gareth had to get in on the action in the video as Tulisa showed off her curves in a swimsuit. (Pic: WENN)