Rita rocks: We chat to singer, TV judge, actress and designer Rita Ora
From the charts to the red carpet, The Voice to Fifty Shades of Grey, the multitalented RITA ORA rules whatever she turns her hand to. And, she tells Clare Geraghty, she’s not done yet – there’s still a career as a florist to nail
This is shaping up to be quite a year for Rita Ora. The chart-topping blonde has so far added TV star (as a judge on BBC1’s The Voice), fashion designer (she has created a range for Adidas Originals) and actress (with a part in Fifty Shades of Grey) to her already glittering CV. When I ask her which of these roles she feels most at home doing, I am expecting a sanitised celebrity response that she loves them all. On the contrary, Rita knows 100 per cent where her heart lies. ‘Music. It’s all about the music. Without music I wouldn’t have been offered any of these amazing opportunities. I’m really blessed I can do more than one thing. I was talking to Pharrell [Williams] recently and he said I was so lucky that I was a polymath. And it made me feel really proud. I try to do everything to the best of my ability but, without music, none of this would have been possible.’
My success didn't happen instantly. It has been incredibly hard work
See, that’s the thing about Rita Ora, she isn’t your standard celebrity. The petite blonde seemed to appear from nowhere during 2012 with three consecutive number-one singles, and a subsequent number-one album. But it would be wrong to presume that Rita was an overnight success, that superstardom was offered to her on a plate. ‘People see pictures of you dressed up and going to parties and think that it [success] happens instantly, that it’s not incredibly hard work. But it doesn’t all come from nowhere,’ she says with a steely look in her eyes.
Though there’s little doubt 24-year-old Rita puts in the hours, she has benefited from the patronage of some seriously big names along the way. After hearing her vocals on a couple of Craig David’s singles, it was a call from Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label that set her on the road to stardom. The next day she was flown out to meet Jay-Z in Brooklyn and, within 48 hours, was signed to his label. Though she’s effusive in her admiration for Jay-Z, it was her introduction to his other half, Beyoncé, which seems to have had the biggest effect on Rita as she names her ‘one of my biggest inspirations in life’.
Since these not so humble beginnings, Rita has quickly become the girl no party guest list is complete without. She hits award shows with BBF (boy best friend) Grimmy [Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw], poses for selfies with Cara Delevingne, dines with rapper Tinie Tempah and holidays with model Suki Waterhouse. She sits front row at fashion week, owns the red carpet and rules the charts – her recent collaboration with Iggy Azalea even cracking the notoriously difficult American market. In the era of the social media celebrity, Rita reigns supreme.
Rita Sahatçiu Ora was born during the Serbian war in Pristina, Kosovo, to Kosovan-Albanian parents. She was the middle of three children to mother Vera and father Besnik, who, before Rita was even a year old, relocated the family to West London’s Portobello Road, though none of them spoke any English. Rita and her siblings started at a local primary school before, clearly talented, she won a place at Sylvia Young’s theatre school. It’s not hard to see how she stood out from a young age. ‘I’ve always been a bit different,’ she says. Indeed, on the day we meet, Rita’s style and exuberant personality certainly demand attention. She towers over me in vertiginous Louboutins, wearing a floral playsuit that shows off her dance-honed legs. Her smiling face is defined by fuchsia lips and inky lashes.
Not one for the ‘natural look’, Rita was the perfect choice to front quintessentially British cosmetics brand Rimmel, joining Georgia May Jagger and Kate Moss, its other ‘faces’. ‘I’m so proud to be a Rimmel girl,’ she says. ‘Kate’s the rock chick, Georgia’s the English rose and I’m the crazy, colourful one.’ Rimmel marks every girl’s first foray into make-up because of its huge range and pocket-money-friendly prices. ‘I’d been asked to work with different [cosmetics] companies before but it never felt right,’ Rita says.
I've always been unconventional. I like trying new things, taking on a
new character
new character
Rita, of course, is no stranger to make-up. In fact some of her earliest memories revolve around her mum’s dressing table and cosmetics bag, and it was her mum who inspired Rita’s signature statement lip. ‘I’d steal Mum’s YSL red lipstick and wear it with my school uniform. It must have looked ridiculous but I thought it was the most glamorous thing ever,’ she says, before adding, ‘I’m not saying girls need make-up to feel pretty but I love it – the colours, the vibrancy – and it makes me feel like me.’
Rita’s style is as changeable as her mood; one day a red-carpet dress – she names the yellow Zac Posen gown she wore to the recent American Movie Awards as a favourite – one day grungy tomboy in Adidas high tops. She cites Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot (which is actually the screensaver on her iPhone) and Gwen Stefani during her No Doubt days as her inspirations. ‘I don’t think Gwen got enough recognition for how individual she was, being so glamorous and so fashion forward. She was daring but still classy.
‘I’m also inspired by old pictures of my mum – particularly when she was pregnant with me, she looked hot. And also Kate Moss, for just being the coolest person ever – I’ve always been an unconventional person. I like trying new things, taking on a persona, a character. I’m never bored because I entertain myself visually with clothes.’
Though she doesn’t follow fashion trends, it seems she has succumbed to the latest foodie fad, cutting out gluten from her diet. ‘I’ve always watched what I eat but I’ve now stopped having bread and milk. And, once a month, I do a Laborganic juice cleanse. I tend to get really bloated and this cleans me out.’ Just as I’m starting to worry that she’s gone all LA on us, she confesses to having the odd ‘dirty Chinese’ too – ‘You know, really heavy noodles with chicken and a sticky sauce. I love Chinese and McDonald’s but always feel so gross the next day that it’s not often worth it, though.’
Rita with Cara Delevingne, left, and Ellie Goulding
Pixie Geldof, Harry Styles and Nick Grimshaw
Career girl Rita is seeking to conquer the worlds of film and television, too, starting with her bit part as Christian Grey’s sister in Fifty Shades of Grey – being a big fan of E L James’s book, she was thrilled to be cast in Sam Taylor-Johnson’s big-screen adaptation – and her role as a judge on The Voice alongside Tom Jones and Will.i.am. Straight-talking Rita was a smart choice for the BBC music talent show – the channel’s controller Charlotte Moore has said that ‘her no-nonsense attitude really mixes things up’. Apparently they’re not the only ones who think so, as she’s rumoured to have turned down a £1 million offer from Simon Cowell to take a seat on The X Factor judging panel.
With such a glamorous work life, what does downtime Rita get up to? I can’t imagine her in a hoodie and joggers. ‘Are you kidding?’ she laughs. ‘I put on my leggings and clean to loud music. It calms me down. I’m also massively into flower arranging. My dad and I did a course and, honestly, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done. Maybe I’ll open a florist shop as my post-music career.’ ‘Flowers by Rita?’ I suggest. ‘Yeah! Florita,’ she says.
Rita with Beyoncé
...and Jay-Z
...and Gwyneth Paltrow
Much has been made of Rita’s high-profile relationship and even higher-profile break-up with fellow music superstar Calvin Harris. Having been very open about Calvin while they were together (the duo even wrote a song about their long-distance romance, ‘I Will Never Let You Down’), it’s understandable that she has become more wary about revealing details of her love life since they parted via Twitter last June. She has recently been pictured hanging out with rapper Ricky Hil, son of fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, and splitting her time between London and LA in order to spend time with him, though she remains shtoom on the subject.
One area where Rita is one hundred per cent open is on social media. Her Instagram account – four million followers and counting – is a riot of sexy selfies, outfits of the day and poses with her celeb mates. Among those four million are Rita’s army of loyal supporters, her superfans or Ritabots – you can spot them sporting Rita’s signature feline eye flick and red lip. ‘Even my guy fans do it,’ Rita grins. ‘They look better than I do!’
As Rita and I have been chatting, the array of tattoos that pepper her exposed limbs keeps catching my eye. ‘How many do you have?’ I ask. She begins counting, only pausing for breath at 19. What are they all of? ‘A pinkie promise on my little finger, friendship arrows for my best friend and stylist Jason, my brother’s name in Hindi, my sister’s name in Hebrew, a Saturn that I got with Grimmy…’ It seems that every major event and important person in Rita’s life is etched on her in ink. What will be next, I wonder? ‘Who knows?’ she laughs. ‘Watch this space.’
Rimmel London 60 Seconds Super Shine Nail Polish by Rita Ora, £2.99, rimmellondon.co.uk
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