"My heart remains open"— Lupita Nyong'o shares how her cat helped change her perspective on relationships after heartbreak

Lupita Nyong'o recently talked about her pet feline, Yoyo, and how his presence helped in changing her perspective on love after heartbreak. In her latest interview with Harper's Bazaar UK, published on Thursday, October 10, the actress gushed over the rescue cat she adopted last year, saying:

"My love for my cat is singular. If I'm ever so lucky to be in a romantic relationship again, it'll be because of him... I was ready to shut that door and lock it and bolt it. [But] he has ensured that my heart remains open."

While it was never confirmed by either party, Lupita Nyong'o was linked to actor Joshua Jackson in late 2023 after the latter's ex-wife, Jodie Turner-Smith filed for divorce. They were also seen spending time together, including a concert in Los Angeles and a Mexican getaway during the A Quiet Place actress' birthday in March.

However, late in September 2024, rumors that Lupita Nyong'o and Jackson were no longer together started floating after the latter was spotted in New York with model Nastassja Roberts.

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Lupita Nyong'o said she was "replaying moments" and thinking about why she didn't see her ex Masekela's actions

Before her rumored romance with Joshua Jackson, the actress split from TV host and sports commentator Selema Masekela. She announced their breakup in October 2023 via an Instagram Story where she wrote that she wanted to "publicly dissociate" herself from someone she could "no longer trust."

Hinting at the reason for their split, she said that her love was "suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception."

In her recent Harper's Bazaar UK feature, the actress revealed that she wondered how she was caught off-guard by the "deception" of her former boyfriend. She said:

"You go through a lot of like, 'Why? What were the signs? Why didn't I see them? And if I did, why didn't I act on them?' Also, replaying moments and thinking, 'Oh, I felt this apprehension, and I just ignored it. Why did I ignore it?'"

The Little Monsters actress further mentioned that going back and forth about the signs she ignored in the past could "get toxic." But, she said she also considered it an "opportunity to learn" about herself. Speaking of being open about her romantic relationship to the public, Lupita Nyong'o noted that she won't be broadcasting so openly again. She added:

"It's hard enough to go through heartbreak privately. When the world has an image of you in relation to someone else, it prolongs the healing process because the memory is emblazoned in the public domain."

On the work front, Lupita Nyong'o is busy with projects such as her latest family-adventure animated film titled The Wild Robot. She has lent her voice to ROZZUM unit 7134, aka Roz, an intelligent robot who finds itself stranded on an uninhabited island after a shipwreck.

The film follows Roz's journey around the animals living on the island and how this robot becomes the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling. It also features Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy, and Kit Connor.

The Chris Sanders-directed sci-fi epic has made its theater debut on September 27 across the United States. It currently holds a 98% Freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.