Rita Ora breaks silence on ‘throuple’ rumours with husband Taika Waititi and actress

Photos of the trio getting cosy on a balcony, laughing and kissing each other sparked major questions from fans in the summer of 2021.

Published by the MailOnline, the Hot Right Now singer was spotted smooching her now-husband and filmmaker Taika Waititi, while separate snaps showed them both kissing actress Tessa.

Taika, the director of Marvel successes like The Mandalorian and Thor, had just wrapped the filming of Thor: Love and Thunder with leading lady Tessa when they were photographed together in Sydney.

The rumours that the trio were seeing each other went unaddressed until now, with Rita explaining the cosy balcony shots to British GQ.

"I just chose to not acknowledge that because it’s ridiculous,” the star said.

"I think when some things are so absurd, and it’s hard to fathom any sense of it, you just have to ignore it.”

She added: “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.

"The good news though, is that when I was on Twitter talking to my fans, all of my incredible LGBTQIA+ fanbases were like, actually – whether this is true or not – I’m so inspired that this is being normalised publicly.

“That made me really happy. You don’t know who it’s touching.”

While Rita had bit her tongue on responding to “throuple” rumours until now, her husband – who she recently married in a secret London wedding – addressed them shortly after the snaps went public.

When asked is he was upset about the media storm surrounding the snaps of him kissing Rita and Tessa, the New Zealander said: “Not really. I think in the world of the Internet, everything goes away pretty quick.

“And also, "Is it that big a deal?" No, not really. I was doing nothing wrong. It's fine.”

The Daily Mail later reported that executives at Disney-owned Marvel Studios were less than pleased at the press coverage ahead of Thor: Love and Thunder’s release.

"[It's] not exactly the image they're looking to project in relation to one of their biggest franchises,” a source had said.