LOVED-UP Rita Ora has spoken about her top secret wedding and husband Taika Waititi for the first time.
The Anywhere singer has confirmed plans for a major London bash after discreetly tying the knot earlier this summer with the Hollywood director.
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Ending months of speculation, 31-year-old Rita says she has finally found her fairytale ending — and gushed that love of her life Taika, 47, is “so funny and lovely”.
She said: “I’m in love. I’m very much in love. I’m in love, I’m in love, amen!
“But I love love as well. I’ve always been such a believer in it and I’ve always felt like I always wanted the fairytale and that’s what I grew up loving.”
Rita told how her mum and dad, Vera and Besnik Sahatçiu, inspired her to try and find The One despite living a jet-set lifestyle in the showbiz spotlight.
She said: “My parents have been together for over 30 years, so for me it was always about love and finding a partner and all that, so I’m really happy I did.
“I made that choice. It made me happy and I love Taika. He’s so funny and lovely.”
The Sun revealed in June that Taika had popped the question to Rita — although the pair decided against making a big showbiz announcement.
To keep their engagement low-key, Rita did not wear an engagement ring in public — and instead of hosting a glitzy wedding, the duo said “I Do” during an intimate ceremony in late July.
A source said at the time: “This isn’t about them doing a big showy thing and crowing about it beforehand. It’s just about them being in love and deciding the time is right to formalise their relationship. They couldn’t be happier.”
Hinting at plans for a massive party, she said to close pal Jaimie Winstone on the actress’s podcast, The Greatest Night Ever: “I hope so. You’re going to be hosting it and running the whole show.”
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Rita and Taika were dating for just under a year and a half before he proposed.
The pair became close while she was in Australia working as a coach on TV talent show The Voice before making their red carpet debut together at the Los Angeles premiere of superhero movie Suicide Squad in August last year.
But they have been friends for longer.
On Valentine’s Day this year Rita uploaded a cute snap of her and Taika captioned: “Us, four years ago. To now. Thanks for being cool, and entertaining me forever.”
Due to their ever-busy schedules, Rita and Taika have split their time between plush homes in Sydney, Los Angeles and London.
While Taika is one of Hollywood’s biggest film creators thanks to his Marvel blockbusters Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder, Rita insists her first love will always be music.
Real love story
She says her long awaited third album is her most personal ever – documenting her struggle to find the one before falling for Taika.
She explained: “I’m manifesting for a great reception on my third album next year. I’ve been working on it for the past two years and I just really kind of hope everyone likes it, so that’s why I’m manifesting.
“It’s a real love story this album, you’re gonna hear some real truths on there about the journey. I’ve kept my personal life really private this time. I’ve learnt a lot through the years and I felt like musically it was like a calling that I want to sing about it for the first time instead of talking about it. And it felt really nice to put it in my music.”
Ever since crashing into the charts alongside DJ Fresh with number 1 hit Hot Right Now in 2012 Rita has been linked to some of the world’s most eligible bachelors.
In 2013 The Masked Singer judge enjoyed a year long romance with superstar DJ Calvin Harris – with the pair collaborating on her 2014 chart-topping single I Will Never Let You Down.
However, shortly after the track’s release the pair found themselves in a messy split which saw Calvin block her from performing the song live.
Rita also dated Tommy Hilfiger’s son Ricky Hill for 14 months from August 2014 before moving on with musician Andrew Watt.
Speaking in 2019, Rita explained how she sees herself as sexually fluid and doesn’t see genders.
Admitting she found it frustrating being linked to every man she’s pictured with even if they are simply friends, she said: “Of course it annoys me as it doesn’t happen to guys.
“Why don’t people assume the guy is with the girl? It is always that girl is with that guy. I have a lot of male friends, a lot of very attractive male friends, and they are my good friends. It doesn’t mean you have to be hooking up with them, you know.”
It’s a real love story this album, you’re gonna hear some real truths on there about the journey.
She added: “I also admire. I admire beauty from men and women. I see things as faceless and genderless, for me it is about the person.”
Speaking in Albania earlier this month, Rita likened herself to a “storyteller” adding her upcoming record, her first since 2018’s Phoenix, is her most raw and intimate to date.
She said: “I have always thought of myself as a storyteller so I have been writing a lot more and I have been very open and I wanted to make this a very raw, musical record.
“It definitely has a lot more heart. Maybe get a few bottles of whatever you drink when you listen to this album.”
With Taika by her side, Rita is also hoping to finally break Hollywood in the coming months after a series of small film parts.
Her first big screen debut came in 2013 in the form of an uncredited role in Vin Diesel franchise Fast & Furious 6.
Two years later she starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in gritty flick Southpaw as well as the role of Mia Grey in erotic trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey.
Explaining her passion for films, Rita said: “I love doing films. I would love to express my creativity through films. I have always looked at myself as a 360 artist.
“I want to make sure that people believe you can do more than one thing. You can be a musician, an actor, a dancer, a mother, an aunty and a grandmother all at the same time. I really do believe that.
“I want to try and do everything. I feel like I have been doing it already but now I am thirty it’s time to get this ball rolling. I love music. I will always love that, but I think the next chapter for me is definitely films.”