OVER the years Rita Ora has become a household name thanks to her career as a singer and TV star.
But some fans may not know her incredible family history, which includes fleeing her native country as a child.
1
Who are Rita Ora’s parents?
Rita Ora was born on November 26, 1990, to Besnik and Vera Sahatçiu.
Her dad is reported as being a pub owner who previously studied economics.
The couple have three children – Elena, Rita and Don.
Meanwhile, her mum Vera is a psychiatrist who works for the NHS.
She was called on to the frontline during the coronavirus outbreak.
Vera said: “Due to the pressure on the NHS I will be asked to go to the front line to help with A&E and other departments.
“It’s a very dangerous time and not everyone is being safe and staying at home and we are becoming overwhelmed with patients coming through and putting everyone at risk.”
Vera underwent a mastectomy in 2005 after being diagnosed with breast cancer aged 39.
Read Related Also: Anthony Albanese announces major shake-up to Medicare – here's what we know so far
People have often commented on how much Rita and her mum look alike.
Where is Rita Ora from?
Rita was born in Pristina, Yugoslavia (now Kosovo), with both parents being of Albanian descent.
She spent the first year of her life in a small flat in Kosovo before her parents fled persecution and the rumblings of war and genocide.
Kosovo was then part of Yugoslavia and brutal dictator Slobodan Milosevic was beginning his oppression of ethnic Albanians like Rita’s family.
To escape this the family fled to the UK when she was aged one.
What has Rita Ora said about her background?
In April 2020, Rita opened up about “escaping persecution” as her family joined the million other Albanians who escaped the country during a decade-long war.
She visits Albania as often as she can, and was even named an honorary ambassador of Kosovo at the London embassy in 2015.
In 2016, Rita admitted that she often gets confused for mixed race during an appearance on the Wendy Williams’ Show.
The host had said: “I thought you were half-Black and half-white, or something like that?”
Rita replied: “Everybody usually does. I might as well be. But no, I’m Albanian.”
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’
fbq(‘init’, ‘752905198150451’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
