THEY are two of this country’s brightest pop stars and it seems rivals Dua Lipa and Rita Ora just cannot escape each other’s orbit.
Their strikingly similar life paths have now crossed yet again after it emerged Dua has been dating Rita’s ex.
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Dua, 27, was pictured the other day leaving a post-Baftas party with French filmmaker Romain Gavras, 41, and a source confirmed they have been “quietly getting to know each other for several months”.
Romain split up with Rita, 32, in March 2021 after six months.
But Dua and Lipa have mirrored each other at almost every turn over the years.
Their families, originally from Albania, were friends while living Kosovo decades ago before fleeing to England in the Nineties to escape war there.
Rita and Dua then attended the same performing arts school in London and now share a host of celebrity pals as well as likings for skintight catsuits and futuristic metallic dresses.
Dua became the face of Adidas in 2018, four years after Rita signed to represent the sportswear brand.
Dua has followed in Rita’s footsteps by taking up acting, a move she recently described as “inevitable”.
Rita added that string to her bow by starring in three Fifty Shades movies alongside Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson.
Now Dua is pursuing her own Hollywood dream with a role in the upcoming spy movie Argylle, also featuring Superman star Henry Cavill and Samuel L. Jackson.
Showbiz is in the blood
Talking on a recent podcast, she said about shooting the film: “I had a really great time, and it was really exciting, but I think for me it’s like baby steps.
“That’s the best way to discover yourself as well, rather than throwing yourself in the deep end with something that maybe you can’t completely tackle head on.”
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Meanwhile, Dua’s dad, Dukagjin, stunned fans in 2019 when he shared a photo of her historian grandad enjoying a tipple with Rita’s grandad back in the day.
He captioned the snap: “My dad, Seit Lipa, and Mr. Besim Sahatciu.
“Grandfathers of @dualipa and @ritaora having a drink in 1960s city of Peja #grandfathers #friends.”
And for both Ria and Dua, showbiz is in the blood. Rita’s granddad Besim was one of the former Yugoslavia’s most prolific film directors, while Dua’s dad Dukagjin is a celebrated rock star in Kosovo.
Indeed, Rita and Dua, despite their jet-set lives now, insist their hearts belong in Kosovo.
Rita was born in Kosovan capital Pristina and her family relocated to London when she was a year old, fleeing persecution of Albanians.
But she told Vogue magazine: “Kosovo will always be our homeland, and we will forever be proud Kosovans.”
Dua was born in the UK after her parents also fled the conflict.
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The family returned to Pristina in 2006 when she was 11, but she came back to the UK to attend the Sylvia Young school for performing arts — enrolling there five years after Rita.
Dua has also spoken out about how returning to war-scarred Kosovo was a history lesson.
She said: “Living in London, I hadn’t lived through it. I knew what was going on, but my parents were the ones that fled the war.
“I didn’t quite understand it until I went to Kosovo and understood how many of my friends had struggled.”
While growing up, future chart-toppers Rita and Dua lived just a few miles from each other — the former in Notting Hill, the latter in West Hampstead.
And their families are still in touch.
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When asked about Rita in the past, Dua replied: “Our parents kind of know each other, and I sort of know her sister.”
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Rita showed the way for Dua in showbiz — scoring her first No1, Hot Right Now, in 2012.
She went on to land a string of hits with 13 UK top ten singles, including four No1s.
Dua’s chart debut came in 2015 and two years later she released the first of her three No1s, New Rules.
As she and Rita have hit the dizzy heights and attended the same awards bashes and parties, they also now have famous friends and collaborators in common.
One such is US-Albanian singer Bebe Rexha.
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She featured on Rita’s single Girls in 2018, and the pair were spotted holding hands at the MTV Video Music Awards.
But, yes, you guessed it, Bebe also later worked with Dua — on 2021 single Rumballa.
Bebe revealed she had tried to set up a collaboration with both Ria and Dua, adding: “I would really love to do something together”
Rita is close mates, too, with Brit singer-songwriter Chelcee Grimes, who has written three of Dua’s hits, and with One Direction turned solo singer Liam Payne who has collaborated with both Rita and Dua.
Brit Charli XCX, who also sings on Girls, is another mutual friend.
She told celebrity news website People: “I love hanging out with Rita.
“She just feels like someone I grew up with – she’s very down to earth and I love that, she knows how to party.”
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And Romain is not the only one of Rita’s former love interests to have hooked up with Dua.
Calvin Harris — whose 2015 bust-up with the singer led to a toxic feud when he banned her from singing their No1 single I Will Never Let You Down — has worked with Dua on two hits including No1 single One Kiss.
Figure-flaunting black catsuits
The duo also put on a steamy performance at the 2019 Brits, when the track won single of the year.
In the fashion stakes, there is no missing Rita’s and Dua’s often near-identical outfits — including futuristic metallic orange dresses and figure-flaunting black catsuits.
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Both are fans of flashing the flesh, posting frequent bikini shots on Instagram, performing in skimpy tops and posing for the cameras on the red carpet in revealing outfits.
Nowadays, they live just two miles apart in London — Rita in a £7.5million Victorian mansion in Primrose Hill and Dua the proud owner of a strikingly similar red-brick mansion worth £7million.
They also overlapped in Los Angeles, where Dua bought a £2million mansion with American model ex Anwar Hadid, before they split in 2021 after two years.
Rita moved back to her London pad in July 2022, with her New Zealand film director husband Taika Waititi, after living in LA for two years.
In 2020, Rita hailed her and Dua’s proudly shared heritage on social media, posting: “Albania and Kosovo are full of great and beautiful talents and I am very proud of my wonderful, strong, talented colleagues who represent our heritage.
“We share love, peace and unity today with Bebe Rexha, Dua Lipa, Era Istrefi, Dafina Zeqiri, Ava Max and many others.”
Rita is now blissfully happy with her husband Taika, who she met just a few weeks after splitting with Romain and married in August 2022.
Dua, in contrast, admitted last year that she had enjoyed taking a break from relationships following her break-up with Anwar.
Speaking to Charli XCX on a podcast, she explained: “For me, this is the first year that I’ve not been in a relationship for a very long time.
“It’s been really great to just be alone and only think about myself and kind of be quite selfish.”
Judging by her night out at the Baftas earlier this month, that was short-lived.
Besides, if Rita is in love it will surely not be long before Dua is doing the same.
Just as with most other things in their lives down the years.
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