'Things haven't been a fairy tale but that does not mean that I sit in a corner cry about it and never ever have the courage to live again.'
Just days before her former husband Naga Chaitanya gets married to Sobhita Dhulipala on December 4, Samantha Ruth Prabhu opened up about her divorce, and what she was going through.
In an interview with Galatta India, the actress said, 'When a woman goes through a divorce, there's a lot of shame and stigma attached to it.
'I got a lot of comments like 'second-hand', 'used' and 'wasted life'. You're pushed into a corner where you're supposed to feel like you're a failure. You're supposed to feel guilt and shame that you were once married and now you're not. I do believe it can be really, really hard for families and girls who have gone through that.'
Earlier this year, Samantha repurposed her white wedding gown for the Elle Sustainability Awards, and dyed it black.
In the interview, the Honey Bunny actor revealed her reasons for doing so: 'The reason why I did that was because I wanted to, and initially, that hurt. It really hurt and then I decided to flip it and that I'll own it.
'Yeah, I am separated and I am divorced. Things haven't been a fairy tale but that does not mean that I sit in a corner cry about it and never ever have the courage to live again.'
She clarified that she did not do it for revenge: 'It wasn't any kind of revenge or anything. It really wasn't a ginormous f*ck. Although it looked like it but it wasn't. It was like, 'Yes, this has happened and I know it and I'm not trying to hide from it. This is it, but it doesn't mean that my life ends there. It begins where it ends.
'I'm very, very happy right now. I have grown so much and I'm doing incredible work and I'm with incredible people. I'm looking forward to the next phase of my life absolutely.'
Samantha and Chay announced their separation in October 2021, just days before their fourth anniversary.
