Despite having three MTV VMA nominations, Dua Lipa chose to sit out this year’s ceremony. The singer recently shared a glimpse of herself on vacation last week. This would’ve marked her first red carpet since May’s Met Gala and her first major industry event since she attended Jacquemus’s fashion show in June.

Lipa’s absence makes sense given the categories in which she is nominated. The Radical Optimism artist got just one personal nod for Best Pop Artist, a competitive category with Camila Cabello, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and Tate McRae also nominated. Her two other nominations are in production-related categories: Best Cinematography (for “Illusion”) and Best Choreography (for “Houdini”).

Lipa posted summer highlights to her Instagram on August 31. She spoke to ELLE earlier this year about her public reputation of being a “Vacanza Queen” and how it doesn’t actually reflect the reality of her life and career.

“I’ve been busy for almost 10 years,” she said. “Every single day, I’ve had some bit of work to do. But people are going to say something anyway. People say a lot of mean things about a lot of people.”

She added that if being Vacanza Queen “is what I’m getting, then I’ll take it. Whether I’m performing or going out, if it’s not fun, I don’t want it. You have to make room for joy. The world can be burning down, but goddamn…if you didn’t spend any of your life trying to be happy, I don’t know what you’ve done.”