Rita Ora opens up about phobia of death and discusses being abandoned in a graveyard during a childhood game of hide and seek

You can add 'good at hiding' to Rita's ever-expanding range of talents

Rita Ora (Getty)

Rita Ora is many things. Gifted songstress, former The Voice judge, current X Factor judge, and occasional global brand ambassador. But the 24-year-old singer has revealed that her skills extend far beyond those in the media, as she was such a good hide and seek player when she was a child that she was abandoned in a graveyard.

Ora was speaking to The Guardian as part of her new role as the face of Italian underwear brand Tezenis when she opened up about her traumatic experience at a cemetery in Earl’s Court.

"I was seven - no-one found me and I thought I was going to get stolen by ghosts," she reflected.

When asked the closest she has ever come to death, she revealed she had a phobia of dying, and as a result makes regular visits to a therapist to combat her fear.

"Death is my biggest phobia," she admitted. "I used to have panic attacks when I was little, saying 'Mum, I don’t want to die'. I’ve been to therapy and still try to go every week."

The singer has previously said that her panic attacks have helped her change her outlook on life.

"It scared the living s**t out of me. I started to value things, see things differently. This world can really eat you up and you can forget who you are," she said.

Recently Ora has been criticised for doing just that, however, with claims that she has 'abandoned' feminism by collaborating with Chris Brown, whose career went south in 2009 after he violently beat then-girlfriend Rihanna on the way to an award ceremony.

She told The Sun in June, however, that she thought Brown was "a good person with a good heart and a lovely family".