SHE first burst into the charts 12 years ago, featuring on DJ Fresh summer anthem Hot Right Now.
But Rita Ora has revealed that all these years later she still struggles to turn down job offers, having grown up in a working-class household.
In an exclusive chat with Biz on Sunday, she revealed she is a workaholic and takes after her mum Vera, who is a psychiatric doctor for the NHS.
Asked how she organises her workload, Rita said: “That is one of my problems — I can’t really say no to things.
“When you come from a background where you didn’t have as much, it is really hard to turn things down, I guess.
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“I am learning how to say no to things but I love working. Everyone is starting to know that about me.”
Meanwhile Rita, whose hot new single Ask & You Shall Receive dropped on Friday, said she feels more body confident than ever as she nears her mid-thirties.
Of embracing herself, she said: “I think it is all to do with timing and growing up.
"There isn’t really a physicality to it because I don’t want people to feel like they have to look a certain way to feel confident.
"You just have to really feel confident from within.”
The singer, actress and entrepreneur moved to the UK from Albania with her family as a baby and has previously revealed how she felt like an “outsider” growing up as a refugee in West London’s Ladbroke Grove.
Rita said: “I have a work ethic like my mother, where it is like, ‘OK how can we do this? How can we get this done?’
“My team is like, ‘You don’t have to do this, you can calm down and you can relax’.
“But I don’t think I have that in me, to be fair, so I need to work on that.
"Your twenties are when you are having the most fun and that is kind of the peak of everything in life really — especially in pop music.”
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But Rita, who turned 33 in November, added: “I think, for me, my thirties have been the best part of my career because I feel I have done everything in my twenties.
“I have made all sorts of mistakes, the trials and the errors, and now I am here with a different perspective and I know more.
"Hold on tight, guys, because the thirties are where it is at.
“I have been told that the forties are even better.
“I don’t think there should be any sort of limit in the business.
“It shouldn’t be about that, and Kylie Minogue is a fantastic example of that, as are other women.”
I couldn’t agree more, Rita.
MY MARRIAGE IS GIVE AND TAIKA
THEY have been married for nearly two years and Rita reveals the secret to her strong relationship with movie director Taika Waititi is quite simple.
She says: “What works is a genuine connection and a real sense of friendship.
"Communication is key.
"Our schedules are crazy busy so it’s just important to talk and that’s what has been working for us.”
They have also been collaborating on projects, with Taika playing a brooding launderette worker in the video for Rita’s track Ask & You Shall Receive.
She said: “He was just hanging out with me and I said, ‘Come on, let’s put you to work, you might as well do a cameo’.
"It was really cute, not planned.
“In terms of directing, he leaves me to it – he has a bit of input, I ask his opinion like, ‘Is this cool or am I crazy?’
"He is like, ‘I don’t know, I do things I like’.
"And I agree – you have to do things that you like and make you happy because if you start overthinking things that is where your fans see the difference.”
Rita also recently worked with Taika on his new movie Klara And The Sun, opposite Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega – and it seems there will be more film projects.
Our schedules are crazy busy so it’s just important to talk and that’s what has been working for us
Rita Ora
She said: “It was fun and an incredible cast and story.
"We have another project in the works this year.”
Work aside, Rita has also fallen in love with visiting Taika’s native New Zealand.
She said: “It’s calmer over there.
"Once you visit, it’s life-changing.
"The nature, the people, the food, the wine – let’s not get started on the wine.
"It is my holiday retreat. I go there to recharge.”
Dreamy.
NEW single Ask & You Shall Receive is Rita’s latest summer dance banger – and the video is sizzling hot.
The star strips to her smalls and dances in a retro US launderette.
She was inspired by the Eighties Levi’s 501 ad, which starred model Nick Kamen.
The singer admitted it pushed her boundaries, revealing: “I wanted to do something that felt a bit different.
"The whole world I am creating and introducing is called a little less perfect, so there is me climbing into the washing machine.
"I would say I am in my freaky and experimental era.”
Rita hopes fans will lose themselves in the “uplifting” track.
She added: “It has an undertone of acceptance, love and the sense of freedom.
"I wanted to feel free in this video.”
RITA’S A PEACEMAKER
THEY were rumoured to have Bad Blood.
But Rita showed she was the ultimate girl’s girl by reuniting Katy Perry with Taylor Swift.
The pair fell out when Taylor hinted Katy stole her backing dancers.
But Katy proved their feud was water under the bridge when she jokingly shared a selfie of her shocked face as Taylor sang Bad Blood at the Eras tour in Sydney in February.
Rita said: “Katy and I were like, ‘Shall we go and watch the show?’
“We saw each other and it was amazing because we were just catching up – a united thing of sisters coming together and supporting each other.”
MEETING up with pals Raye and Ed Sheeran at the star-studded Met Gala last month felt like a British takeover, Rita revealed.
The Anywhere hitmaker who has been to the annual New York fashion bash ten times, admitted: “I am always like, ‘I can’t believe I am invited – it is always such a huge honour.
“Raye and I saw each other. We looked around like two English girls just trying to figure it out.
"Who the f**k let us in?
"We laughed about it and were just a bit like, ‘We deserve this. We’re real hard workers.’
“We just celebrated and Ed was there too so the UK united and it just felt really good. It was a nice moment.”
GLASTO OR BUST
TONIGHT Rita performs at the Mighty Hoopla Festival in South London, and she said: “For me, it’s the best crowd in the world.”
Even so, her festival gigs don’t always go to plan.
She said: “I once performed at Glastonbury and thought I could handle wedge heels and trousers with feathery trims.
"I tripped so hard and I went flying across the stage.
“My top bust open and I had to hold it all together. Luckily I didn’t flash anyone.
“But I love it when it rains, that’s where I thrive.
“Sometimes there is thunder, and I’ve had to stop the show.
"Sometimes it’s too hot and I have to give my water to people in the crowd. It’s a community.”
HEART’S IN NEW FILM
MULTI-talented Rita loved channelling a wicked streak for her role as villain the Queen of Hearts in Disney’s Descendants: The Rise Of Red.
She said of the movie, which is out next month: “It was really fun to shoot, the franchise is really cool.
“The Queen of Hearts has previously been played by Helena Bonham Carter, so that was quite nerve-racking.
"It was all original music and I got to sing. It was so fun and wicked playing a villain.
“I’m obsessed with immersing myself in a role.”
IT’S OURA FOR ORA
SHE used to be one of pop’s biggest party girls, but now Rita loves her beauty sleep.
So much so that she wears an Oura Ring on her finger, a gadget which tracks sleep and physical activity.
She said: “I am just prioritising sleep now.
“The first thing I do after waking up is look at how well I have slept, and it’s not healthy.
"When I see a crown icon, it means I am doing well.
"Nine hours is my dream. I can function on seven, but I can’t do five or six.
“I plan my nights out, I don’t go on a whim any more.
"In fact when I went to Tom Holland’s play Romeo & Juliet, I was excited that it was a 2.30pm matinee performance, then I get to be in bed by 7pm.”
How times have changed.
