Dua Lipa used to pinch boys at school ‘until they fell to their knees’

Dua Lipa has recalled “standing up to boys” at school as she reveals that she has felt “anger towards the patriarchy” from a young age.

In a new interview with American Vogue, of which she is the June/July cover star, the Future Nostalgia singer spoke about maturing during the pandemic, and “coming into [her] power”.

She said she first learned to stand up for herself at school, at around age seven or eight, after being angered by the game Kiss Chase on the playground.

“Boys would start it and chase the girls around the playground, trying to kiss us,” she explained.

“So you’re running around and laughing, but it’s a nervous laughter. You don’t really know what’s happening, and you’re supposed to be like, ‘Oh, the boys fancy me.’ Like it was a game about winning their approval. I hated that.”

She said there eventually came a day where she “just wasn’t in the mood to run”, and she deployed a tactic to keep boys away and punish them if they came close.

“I don’t know how I picked it up, but when a boy would come near me, I’d say, ‘Yeah, come here’. And then I would pinch their shoulders like this,” she said, motioning with her fingers.

“Until they fell to their knees. That was the point when I started standing up to boys, and the boys started being scared of me.”

“I’ve always had this anger toward the patriarchy. I just never liked boys telling me what to do,” she added.

Elsewhere in the interview Lipa also confirmed rumours that she has split from Anwar Hadid, and said she is currently focused on being “single and content to be so”.

“The next chapter of my life is about truly being good with being alone,” she said.

Lipa, who recently shared in her Service95 newsletter that she took herself out on a date, said she is keen to go on more solo adventures.

“It was a big step for me. I was nervous - like, what am I gonna do? I don’t want to be on my phone. I want to know I can just be there for myself, you know?” she said.