Rita Ora was moved to tears talking about her mother’s breast cancer battle on ‘The Voice Australia’.
Rita Ora with her mother Vera
The ‘Anywhere’ hitmaker - who is a coach on the singing competition - opened up about how her mother Vera Sahatciu developed cancer back in in 2005 when Rita was still a teenager as she spoke to contestant Aleisha Gam, who dedicated her performance of 'Make You Feel My Love' to her mother, who has "been struggling with cancer for the last two years…” on the episode which aired on Wednesday (20.04.22).
In response, the 31-year-old pop star told the 26-year-old singer: "I know how it feels to sort of have that connection with a song, and then that memory always sticks with that song. My mum, she also had cancer. When she would go and get her treatment, and she was losing her hair and stuff, we were kind of teenagers."
Her voice breaking with emotion, Rita went on: "It was really weird to see your mum, like, not be the superhero that you always think your mum is going to be ... Because you never think your parents are going to sort of, like, break down in front of you, you know what I mean?"
After taking a deep breath to collect herself, she added: "And then you have to sort of put them together ... I can't even speak.”
The ‘Hot Right Now’ hitmaker described her beloved parent Vera as a “survivor”.
Rita - whose father is pub owner Besnik Sahatciu - said: “It's also something she talks about. She's a survivor, but she had it super young, and I think it's so important to have that memory with them.”
The ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ actress admitted it was “really hard” to talk about her mother’s illness.
Rita said: “I just wanted to put that out there. I don't really talk about my mum like that ... It's really hard.”
In December 2020, Rita first spoke about Vera’s cancer battle and how she “felt a lot of responsibility” to grow up fast in the aftermath.
She said: “Cancer affects everyone. My mum battled it twice, and I had a lot of different emotions. I felt a lot of responsibility to step up and become a strong teenager. I wanted to protect my mother.
“Even now, every time my mother has to have a check-up we get reminded of all those feelings of waiting for the result, and the fear factor of it all.”
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