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Dappy has been arrested and charged with assault after a scuffle outside a nightclub in Essex.
An Essex police spokesman confirmed that the former N-Dubz star – real name Costadinos Contostavlos – had been taken into custody in the early hours of Thursday morning and subsequently charged with "assault by beating".
The alleged attack occurred after his performance Chicago’s Nightclub in Chelmsford, Essex the same evening.
A source close to the star has since claimed that Dappy had "acted in self-defence".
"He has been released on bail prior to his appearance at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on 19 March,"the police spokesperson added.
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housematesShow all 12 1 /12Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Dappy He got kicked in the face by a horse only recently, but the N-Dubz rapper has seemingly recovered in time for some Celebrity Big Brother drama. Tulisa Contostavlos’ cousin, the controversial singer is known for his catchphrase ‘Na Na Niii’ and wearing woollen hats coined ‘Dappy hats’. Dappy has collaborated with Tinchy Stryder on the chart-topping single ’Number 1’ since leaving the band.
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Sam Faiers Star of augmented reality TV, Towie's Sam Friers is best remembered as getting a ‘vajazzle’ done – the ‘prettification’ of one’s lady area with gemstones. The ex-fiancée of Joey Essex and former gymnast almost became a Page 3 girl for The Sun and says she would still love to model for Ann Summers. Joey recently appeared on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, so was Faiers jealous of his limelight perhaps?
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Jasmine Waltz She might or might not have punched Lindsay Lohan in the face in a 2010 catfight over rugby player Danny Cipriani. Aside from that, Waltz is known for her involvement in the celebrity dating scene. She has been romantically involved with Jesse McCartney, David Arquette (who admitted sleeping with her while married to actress Courtney Cox), Chris Pine and Ryan Seacrest among others.
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Evander Holyfield Mike Tyson bit off this guy’s ear in 1997 during the famous ‘Bite Fight’ in Las Vegas. Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield is a four-time world heavyweight boxing champion, so the other celebrities had best not start a squabble with him. He made over $230 million while competing in the ring but has donated a large proportion of his earnings to the Church. This should be interesting…
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Casey Batchelor She’s a British Glamour Model best known for…her 34GG breasts. Things could get competitive with a certain other lady with *ahem* ‘assets’ entering the house this year. ‘I think they’re amazingly feminine and make every outfit sexy, which can be a problem sometimes,’ Casey said. ‘By the time I was 15 they were an E, then by 18 they’d hit FF!’
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Liz Jones The one-time editor of Marie Claire, Jones is renowned as a Daily Mail columnist. The British journalist claims to have been anorexic aged 11 and was sacked from Marie Claire for refusing to use bulimic models in the magazine. She sparked controversy in 2012 when she criticised presenter Holly Willoughby for posting a photo of herself sans make-up on Twitter, calling the act ‘a betrayal to women’.
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Jim Davidson Arguably the biggest hitter in the line-up, the cockney comedian experienced a 20 year battle with alcohol and was declared bankrupt in 2006. Davidson has had four failed marriages and been in rehab twice. He was awarded an OBE for his charity services and is known for his controversial views. ‘Women are meant to be slim and attractive,’ he once wrote on his blog.
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Lee Ryan The English pop star was a member of the boy band Blue. They sold over 14 million records worldwide including classics such as ‘All Rise’ and ‘One Love’. In 2003, he got engaged to Atomic Kitten’s Liz McClarnon but they split due to the pressures of being a celebrity couple.
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Luisa Zissman She was the runner-up on Alan Sugar’s The Apprentice, but that’s boring compared to how she describes herself – with the energy of a Duracell bunny, sex appeal of Jessica Rabbit and a brain like Einstein, apparently. She speaks openly about regularly attending sex parties (yes…) and owns a cake shop chain.
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Ollie Locke 'Bicurious' Made in Chelsea star Locke is known as an entertaining character. He was attacked outside a nightclub at his friend Cheska’s birthday party by a hater of the show. Locke quit the reality TV show in August 2013, claiming that ‘the party’s over for me’. A big partier, he claims to always carry eyelash curlers and admits to being vain, ‘but not arrogant’.
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Lionel Blair British TV personality Blair started acting in London Underground stations and air raid shelters during WWII. He was the star of popular TV game shows Name That Tune and Give Us A Clue and like Nolan, enjoyed a West End career too.
Celebrity Big Brother 5: Meet the 2014 housemates Linda Nolan Nicknamed ‘Naughty Nolan’ after her raunchy photo shoots, Linda first hit stardom in family act The Nolans. The group released disco hit ‘I’m in the Mood for Dancing’ before Nolan went on to enjoy an acting career with a West End appearance in Blood Brothers as Mrs Johnstone. She survived breast cancer in 2006 after undergoing a mastectomy.
However, the rapper carried on as normal, even tweeting the following after the tumultuous event:
The news follows reports that the Celebrity Big Brother runner-up narrowly avoided bankruptcy after paying off a £140,000 tax bill. An HM Revenue and Customs official informed a High Court judge at a two-minute hearing that the musician had now paid the outstanding amount in full.
Dappy is thought to have earned more than £100,000 from his stint on the reality TV show.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the star has had a run-in with the law. He was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for 18 months, after being found guilty of assault and affray in January 2013 .
He was also asked to pay £4,500 in compensation and £2,000 in costs for his part in a fight at a petrol station in February 2012.
A spokesperson for Dappy declined to comment.