Dua Lipa didn’t just materialize on the world stage with a catchy hook and a fierce pose – her rise is a masterclass in grit, self-invention, and trusting your instincts, no matter how loud the noise gets. Born and raised in London to Kosovar-Albanian parents, Dua’s early days were a mix of uploading stripped-back covers to YouTube and hustling as a model to fill the gaps while chasing her true dream. The hustle was real; the payoff, massive. “New Rules” hit like an adrenaline rush, blending attitude, vulnerability, and a hook impossible to ignore. It was the sound of someone breaking through, fully self-assured and ready to claim her space.
But what sets Dua apart isn’t just her ability to craft a pop banger destined to loop in your head for weeks – it’s her restlessness, her curiosity. She refuses to sit still musically. With “Future Nostalgia,” she plunged face-first into disco’s glittering past and somehow made it pulse with 21st-century swagger. Critics swooned, fans doubled down, and Dua emerged not just as a pop star but as an architect of her own sonic universe. Through all the chart-topping singles and world tours, she’s held onto an authenticity that’s become her calling card: unfiltered, cheeky, sometimes vulnerable, always unmistakably herself.
Behind the Public Persona
Standing in front of packed arenas or posing for Vogue is only one side of the coin. Offstage, Dua is, by her own account, fiercely protective of the parts of herself she doesn’t want broadcast. “I’ve never really wanted to put that out there,” she told British Vogue in 2021, peeling back the curtain a tiny bit. “Even in my Instagram posts, I’m very curated about what I share. I won’t post pictures with someone I’m seeing unless I’ve established trust with them.” It’s a balancing act, and you can feel the tug-of-war – what to share, what to keep, what’s sacred in an age when nothing seems off-limits.
That caution makes sense; her love life is a topic of obsessive public curiosity. Long before she was headlining festivals, Dua spent several years navigating love with British chef and model Isaac Carew. Their relationship was on-again, off-again as her career exploded, the kind of push-and-pull many can relate to, only hers played out with paparazzi watching.
Later, she found herself entwined with Anwar Hadid, sibling to runway royalty Gigi and Bella. Their romance, from 2019 to 2021, was more public – Instagram posts, joint appearances, traveling the world together – until it faded quietly, as things sometimes do when life starts pulling in different directions. Post-breakup, headlines linked her to rapper Jack Harlow after he boldly dropped a song named after her, but the whispers never solidified into anything tangible.
Then came French director Romain Gavras. Fans and photographers spotted them looking unmistakably coupled-up at Cannes in May 2023, but by year’s end, reports had them going their separate ways. Most recently, there’s Callum Turner, the British actor familiar to audiences from “Fantastic Beasts” and “The Boys in the Boat.” Paparazzi first caught them together in January 2024 – low-key enough to keep things out of the tabloid meat grinder, though not so secret to snuff out curiosity. For now, there are no engagement rings – just a sense of two people figuring things out away from the noise.
If you listen closely to her music, you can hear the evolution. Heartbreak, defiance, vulnerability – they’re all in her lyrics, echoing chapters from her own life. “New Rules” and “Don’t Start Now” aren’t just catchy singles; they’re survival anthems for the newly-single, tiny instruction manuals for getting through modern love with your dignity – and your playlist – intact.
Watching Dua now, there’s a visible sense of calm, a confidence that comes from knowing yourself better after every high and every heartbreak. Her boundaries are firmer, her voice edgier, her smile a little more knowing. Through her openness and growth, she’s forged a real connection with fans who see not just a superstar but someone stumbling, learning, and thriving right alongside them.
Past Relationships
Callum Turner
Romain Gavras
Jack Harlow
Trevor Noah
Arón Piper
Anwar Hadid
Chris Martin
Jack Whitehall
Isaac Carew
Paul Jason Klein
As Dua Lipa rides the ever-changing tides of fame, she does so on her own terms – whether she’s belting out an arena anthem or carving out a private moment out of the spotlight. One thing’s certain: wherever her story goes from here, it’ll be authentic, unapologetic, and all her own.
