Rita Ora & Taika Waititi': Inside Their Love Story

Ora and Waititi started out as friends in 2018. Waititi had recently divorced Chelsea Winstanley after seven years of marriage. Ora and Waititi were seen hugging and kissing along with Thompson in May 2021. This was the couple’s first PDA. However, they did not publicly confirm their relationship until August, when they appeared at ‘Suicide Squad’ premiere in Los Angeles.

The month after that they walked down the Met Gala. Ora told ‘Vogue Australia’ that she was “in a great place” in her life. In February of that year, Waititi confirmed that they had been dating for over a year, while Ora posted photographs of their romance.

The movie ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ premiered in June 2022. Ora congratulated the crew on Instagram: “Huge congratulations to @taikawaititi and the whole Thor crew and team!!"

In August 2022 the couple secretly got married. Ora talked about her new life in the ‘Greatest Night Ever’ podcast: “For me, it was always about that love, finding a partner, so I’m really happy I did. I love Taika. Shoutout to Taika!”

In November 2022 the couple co-hosted the 29th MTV Europe Music Awards in Dusseldorf, Germany. They opened up about their first date in an interview with ‘Vogue,’ “It was very casual. And then we stayed friends for like, four or five years. ... It was just a natural thing. We were both in Australia doing two separate jobs ... and we kind of hung out and that was it. We went to a friend's birthday party, and it all clicked.”

In January 2013, during an interview with GQ, Ora assessed the photograph with Thompson that made the couple famous in 2021. “Have you ever been in a situation where you've had a lot of drinks and everyone's your best friend? And then the next day you're like, 'I was talking to this person in the smoking area for four hours and I've got no idea who they are?' Literally – that [photo] was just a bunch of friends having a good time. They [Taika and Tessa] had a crazy schedule and everyone was letting loose. I love that. Each to their own.”

Then, Ora was invited to ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ in February 2023 to talk about her marriage and newest projects. The singer told Fallon she had never shown the ring before and proceeded to show an emerald golden ring, joking she “may have” helped her husband choose the ring by taking him to the store and pointing out which one she wanted.

Ora’s latest album, ‘You & I’, was recently released in July; Ora talked about how her husband was her inspiration for the album: “Meeting Taika, who is my husband, I definitely never felt that before, and so I just wrote it all down and I thought, ‘OK, I think it’s time to make some music again.’ And here we are.”