'Live It Up' hitmaker Tulisa Contostavlos has admitted that her perceived persona of being 'tough' often reflects negatively on her and she gets sent nasty comments from strangers on social networking sites.

Talking to Britain's The Mirror newspaper, she explained that because she comes across as a ballsy, strong woman people seem to think she's "a bitch" and attack her for it:

"I had a bad time but got through it by not letting everything get to me. I spend most of my life being tough, but there is a downside - a lot of people think I'm a bitch. I'm not."

"Every now and again I'll shut myself away and cry. If there's something that's bothering me - like a load of nasty remarks on Twitter - sometimes crying can be the best release."

She also opened up about her hopes for the future and said that she would like to have children, but it would be more of a big deal to her because of how she grew up:

"I really want to have kids. I'll get married and because of the way I grew up, having a baby will be a massive deal for me."