Her confidence is striking. I love it. Does she ever suffer from imposter syndrome? “What’s that?” she asks. Now, I love her even more. “Of course I suffer from insecurities, like everyone else,” she adds. “But they drive me to do more.”
“Anyone that draws outside the lines is going to get that,” she says. Rita once asked JLo for advice on coping with the constant attention on her private life rather than her work. “She just kept going, ignoring the noise.” But does Rita think women in the public get a rawer deal?“How do I think women are treated differently? Have you got all day? I’ve had it my whole career: having people judge what I wear, saying, ‘Is she too naked?’ Or, ‘Can she say things like that?’ I find it extremely misogynistic.” She always loved Madonna, “Because she knew not everyone was going to agree with her. And she just did it anyway. I’m thanking her for that, because that’s given me the ability to be more outrageous, a bit more outlandish with things: how I dress, things I might say. I’m not perfect, but I think that’s what keeps my fans entertained the most.
She told Ford at the time and he was ‘over the moon’ that she’d chosen him. “He’s a great friend of mine. We celebrated New Year’s together, this one just gone.” Did anyone else know you were getting married? “No, I told my friends afterwards. No one knew. No one was surprised. They were like, “I’m so happy for you. And when can we just throw a big rager?” Have you done that yet? “No. Maybe sometime this year. We haven’t even thought about it. But by the time we throw it, it’ll be old news. My friends won’t care any more.”
Denim Maxi Skirt & Jacket, GCDS, Green ring and pink crystal & Green gemstone crystal ring, SWAROVSKI
I’m intrigued, considering their multi-faith heritages – Rita’s father is a non-practising Muslim, her mother a Catholic, Taika describes himself as a Polynesian Jew – whether they brought religion into their wedding ceremony? “No, it was more just a contractual reading, but it was very spiritual. We just loved the fact that we were marrying one another. I was never really raised in a forced religion. My parents were really like, ‘Whatever you gravitate towards.’ And I naturally gravitated towards having a God and there being a Jesus and me following that route. That was just me. But I, again, praise my God in my own way. And so that’s the way I’m giving out my energy with my family. Whatever gets you through the day. And for me it’s nice to have that higher power that I can talk to. I’m definitely a believer in giving, sometimes, the things I can’t control to the higher power, because it really relieves my stress.” Other things that help her relax include, “Sitting at home with my partner, being boring at 9PM and watching TV shows. What’s on her Netflix? “We’re watchingBeef at the moment, it’s the best. AndSuccession.” She’s in a WhatsApp bookclub with her friends – “all young mums”, she says. What’s she reading? “I’ve just finished Klara And The Sunby Kazuo Ishiguro. I’m about to startTomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.” She likes eating takeaways – isn’t a good cook, “I leave that to Taika, he makes a great steak” – and hanging out with her best friend she’s known since she was two; she’s coming over tonight, once I leave.
Finally, as our conversation winds up, I ask, has she finally found the stability she’s craved for so long? “I do feel a shift" she concedes. "Not because I feel I’m getting older. I just feel I’m more experienced.” For the first time now, she says she’s “living, not worrying. I had a moment of reality recently, where I realised all the stress and anxiety I had in my twenties – I survived it. Not being swayed or convinced or second guessing myself. It has been a new enlightening moment for me. Knowing that a lot of people may not agree with my decisions, but doing them anyway.” Madonna would be proud.
Rita Ora's 'Praising You' ft. Fatboy Slim is out now. Her album 'You & I' will be released on 14 July and is available to pre-order here.
Photographer: Rachell Smith
Digital Operator: Cameron Smith
1st Photo Assistant: Charlie Walker
2nd Photo Assistant: Kate Whelan
Stylist: Sasa Thomann
Hair: Shon Hyungsun Ju @ The Wall Group
Makeup: Marie Bruce
Nails: Michelle Humphrey @ LMC
Seamstress: Eleanor Williams
Production: Dalia Nassimi
Sound Operator: Michael Panayiotis
