Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Rita Ora by Jennifer Wiley and Douglas Wight

2. Even though Rita has a megabucks deal with Adidas - including her own clothing range for the sports giant - her first true sportswear love affair was with Nike! Friends say young Rita was particularly obsessed with her first pair of Nike Air Prestos - remember those?!

3. Rita nearly blew her chance of impressing Roc Nation record label boss Jay Z when her flew her to New York to sign her. After one of his bodyguards stepped on her precious Nike Air Jordan trainers she stooped to clean them. Rita said: "Jay Z grabbed me by the shoulders, pulled me up and went, 'Don't ever do that. Come with me.'" It ended happily however. He took her shopping - for a whole suitcase of trainers!

4. Rita was OBSESSED with Mariah Carey as a teen. Neighbours at the rough council estate where she grew up remember hearing Rita sing Mariah tunes day and night from her living room. 'Hero' was one of her favourites. Neighbour Martin Dykes said: "She used to love singing all the time. Her voice was always so nice and pretty. We'd always be like 'really, wow, did you just do that?'"

5. Rita was embarrassed about being poor as a teen - made worse by the fact that she went to the pricey Sylvia Young theatre school in London. She said: "One day, I cut my bag up and made it into a handbag. It's so embarrassing but everyone wanted one! I cut it up, I made a handle and I would go to school with it. Everyone would be like, 'That's such a nice bag.'"

6. Rita was also ashamed of her body size growing up. Rita, who is now a 34D bra size, said: "There was a point in school when I didn't feel comfortable at all. I had bigger breasts and a bigger bum - and hated it. Every Thursday, we had to wear tight clothing for ballet. I'd get extra-tight leotards for dance classes to flatten me because I was ashamed of my body. You could see every bump and curve. And me and this other girl were the only ones who had breasts early on, and I'd try to cover them, hunching my shoulders. That is why my posture is still s***."

7. She is banned from eating spicy Tabasco sauce because doctors fear the addiction could damage her vocal chords. Rita said: "I've been told by my doctor that Tabasco is bad for my voice so I can't have it any more - but I absolutely love it. The head of Tabasco even sent me a bottle with my name on it. My whole team were emailed within an hour of me being told with orders to keep me away from it."

8. Rita's first celebrity boyfriend was "Uptown Funk" singer Bruno Mars. The pair dated before either of them were famous. Rita said: "It was love at first sight, such a great experience. We met in 2009. I was starting out at Roc Nation. Bruno was unknown back then too. He was a struggling songwriter hired to write songs for me. I'm not a flirt, just very friendly. I thought, 'Wow, that's just the world's greatest guy!'"

9. As a token of her appreciation for gifting her with his song 'R.I.P.', Rita presented rapper Drake with an ancient ring that belonged to her grandfather in Kosovo. The couple have denied they dated but Drake cherishes the gift as "one of the greatest I ever received in my whole life".

10. Rita's first big crush was a boy in her theatre school class called Jamie Blackley - the same Jamie Blackley who went on to star alongside Chloe Moretz in 2014 film If I Stay. Sadly, friends said romance never blossomed despite Rita and Jamie sneaking in the odd kiss at parties. Rita even ended up going to prom with a gay male friend instead of her handsome crush.