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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Lisa McLoughlin

Rita Ora says bond with new husband director Taika Waititi ‘made me ready to settle down’

Rita Ora has spoken about the moment she knew her partner, director Taika Waititi, was the right person for her and how their “bond” helped her realise she was “ready to settle down”.

The singer, 32, and the Oscar-winning New Zealander, Waititi, wed last August in an intimate ceremony in London after they were first romantically linked in April 2021.

In her cover shoot for GQ Hype, the music star discussed how their worlds collided after work commitments brought them Down Under and soon their six-year long friendship turned romantic, which she said made her life “better”.

She told the outlet: “When I didn’t feel a change, like my life just became better. We were really good friends for six years, and I went to Australia and we both had separate jobs, and we didn’t really know that many people out there.

“It was nice to see a familiar face and our universes just collided. That was it.”

Ora also reflected on how their “bond” made her realise how serious they were and she doesn’t take it for granted.

The star poses for the front cover of this month’s GQ Hype (Richard Dowker)

“It was our bond that made me think, I’m ready to settle down,” she continued. “I never think about things like that because I don’t want to jinx anything.”

It was reported last August that the couple had said ‘I do’ in an intimate ceremony in London.

“It was a really intimate ceremony and super special for everyone there. Their nearest and dearest can see how madly in love they are,” a source told The Sun at the time.

They pair were first romantically linked in April 2021 and walked their first red carpet together at the debut of The Suicide Squad in Los Angeles.

In November, Waititi - who has directed films such as Thor: Love and Thunder, Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit - revealed that actor Robert Pattinson had introduced them to each other.

Unlike Ora’s confession they had been friends for six years, the filmmaker said that they had known each other for three years before they started dating in 2021.

He said on Louis Theroux Interviews BBC series: “We’ve actually known each other for years, before we got together. Everyone thinks we met in Australia last year.

“You know who brought her to my house? Rob Pattinson. He brought her over. I was having a little barbecue and we just got chatting, we hit it off, and became friends.

“Then for the next three-and-a-half years we were just good mates.

He continued: “We were in different relationships, and every time we hung out, we would just catch up where we left off, and it was a good friendship, and we decided to ruin it all.

“I just like the fact that we work hard, and we’ve both got our own jobs and independent, but are also best friends...”

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