Lupita Nyong'o was "living in a lot of pain and heartbreak" following her split from Selema Masekela
The 40-year-old actress took to social media in October last year to announce that she and TV host Selema, 52, had called time on their relationship after a year together and despite her hesitation to share the news has now admitted that she ended up being so "moved" by the supportive response of her fans
28 February 2024
She told Net-a-Porter: "In my mind, when I shared my relationship status with the world, it was because I felt sure about it. I was living in a lot of pain and heartbreak.
"I looked at the environment of my social media and thought, I don't want to be a part of this illusion that everything is always coming up roses.
"Surely there is a lesson for me to learn in this, and I just want to be real about it.
"I knew how it could be interpreted; I knew it would have a life of its own. But then I started to see the comments and people were being so loving and supportive. The ones that moved me the most were other people sharing their pain and their heartbreak."
The Oscar-winning star also explained that she doesn't need to have an "extreme" in anything to be happy in life and instead "rejoices" when she wakes up without an urge to cry.
She said: "I think what I've learned is, I've got to just face this thing that I'm going through. I can't run away from it.
"And so I am not looking for its opposite right now. I don't need an extreme to be happy.
"For me, right now, when I wake up and I don't feel a bout of tears well up, I rejoice."
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