Dua Lipa believes moving to London aged 15 gave her "crazy determination" to pursue her dreams.
The 21-year-old singer – who released her debut single ‘New Love’ in 2015 – has admitted when she decided to leave her family in Kosovo to return to England’s capital in 2008 was the defining moment in her career.
Speaking about the decision to up sticks and relocate as a teenager, the brunette beauty said: "I didn’t want to pursue music in Kosovo because I didn’t feel like there was any way of me getting out to a more global audience. If I were to post covers and hope for the best – that someone would find me and ship me away from Kosovo – that didn’t seem realistic, and all I wanted was to just make music.
"I think that period of my life really made me who I am because I knew the reason why I was there and what I wanted.
"I started posting covers online and having this crazy determination about what I wanted to do and just went for it. I was like, ‘OK, no one else can create my future for me and no one can get what I want for me, so I have to go out and get it myself.’ I have to do this and be my own person. It pushed me to not give up on my dreams because it was the only thing I had my heart set on from the very start.
And the vocalist has revealed her devoted fans have helped her to "accept" herself, and to love who she is.
She told V Magazine: "I’m learning to accept myself. I’m still in the process of learning to love who I am. And it’s been really refreshing and really nice to be able to do that and be OK. I think my fans have brought that out in me."