Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who announced separation from husband and actor Naga Chaitanya in October this year, told Filmfare recently in an exclusive interview that she thought she would "crumble and die" after her estrangement from her husband. However, Samantha added that she was "strong" to face the personal issue - something that even "surprised" her as she thought she was "a much weaker person." Talking about being vocal about her issues, be it personal or professional, Samantha said: "It's ok if you are having a bad day, vocalise it, understand it, as soon as you accept that you're going through something half the work is done. It's when we don't want to accept it and we are fighting it it's a never-ending battle. But when you accept when you vocalise 'this is my issue, so what now? I still have to live my life'. I know I'm still going to live my life and with all the issues that I now faced in my personal life, I was surprised at how strong I was."
She added: "I thought I was a much weaker person. I thought that with my separation, I would crumble and die. I didn't think I was capable of being this strong...Today I'm very very proud of how strong I'm because I really didn't know I was."
A few months ago, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya announced their separation in a joint statement that read: "To all our well-wishers. After much deliberation and thought Chay and I have decided to part ways as husband and wife to pursue our own paths. We are fortunate to have a friendship of over a decade that was the very core of our relationship which we believe will always hold a special bond between us. We request our fans, well-wishers and the media to support us during the difficult time and give us the privacy we need to move on. Thanking you for your support." Samantha later deleted the post where she had shared the statement.
The separation announcement came after reports of Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya's split-up trended for weeks on social media. It had started when the actress had changed the moniker on her social media profiles from Samantha Akkineni to "S."
After their separation, Samantha Ruth Prabhu changed her name again on Instagram and Twitter - this time from "S" to Samantha.
Samantha and Naga Chaitanya had a dreamy wedding in Goa in 2017. The couple first got married as per Hindu rituals and later exchanged wedding vows in a Christian ceremony.
In terms of work, Samantha Ruth Prabhu has starred in films such as Oh! Baby, Majili, Ye Maaya Chesave, Rangasthalam, Neethaane En Ponvasantham, Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu, Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu and others.
She was last seen in Prime Video's web-series The Family Man 2, headlined by Manoj Bajpayee.