Rita Ora has opened up about her childhood and revealed that she spent most of her younger years as an impoverished refugee in London.

Contact Music reports that the singer has told how she was born in Pristina in Yugoslavia but her family was forced to flee the country when she was just one year old. Rita and her family arrived in London as refugees and set about trying to make a life for themselves.

The pop star told the Evening Standard newspaper that she had to live in one room with her parents and her older sister as she was growing up because they simply could not afford a house. However, despite these hardships, Rita has said that herself and her family were “determined” to make things work.

“That word [refugee] carries a lot of prejudice but it also made us determined to survive. When you put anyone into an alien environment, where other peple aren’t completely comfortable with them being there, they are automatically going to be defensive. It’s the rule of the jungle, right?” said Rita.

“[There was] one room for all four of us, my sister Elena annoying me by doing her times tables when I was trying to sleep. Out of the window I could see Brompton Cemetery. Scary,” she added.

On a lighter note, the singer also said that she had a crush on Robert Pattinson and wanted to “kill” her former beau, Rob Kardashian.

Rita with her ex-boyfriend Rob Kardashian

Last year Rob posted a series of nasty tweets on his Twitter page accusing Rita of sleeping with 20 other men while she was wth him. However, Rita has claimed that she ended things with Rob simply because she didn’t have any time to see him.

“I’m not going out with Rob. We were close for a while, but it didn’tw ork because I was never there. I was like a ghost. I used to get so frustrated with myself and then wonder why I was angry, so I decided it was best to keep it friendly – especially at the moment, when there’s so much going on,” said Rita.