Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu has been vocal about her struggles with the autoimmune disorder she suffers from, myositis. Recently, while promoting her upcoming film Maa Inti Bangaram, the actor spoke about her two-year break from films due to the disease and the constant queries about her weight loss. She also revealed a surprising connection to it all to her pet cat, Gelato. (Also Read: Raj Nidimoru holds Samantha Ruth Prabhu close protectively as they are crowded by fans in Tirumala. Watch)
Samantha Ruth Prabhu on queries about her weight loss
Samantha was asked on Galatta Plus about why she named her pet cat Gelato. The actor got surprisingly candid about the story behind the name and said, “Those two years that I was on a break, food was a trigger. If I eat anything that upsets my gut, I would trigger the autoimmune condition. And so, my food became extremely restricted and extremely bland. I would eat the same food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two years. And then the first thing that I was allowed to add was gelato, without sugar and dairy. So, I would really look forward to that gelato. So, when I decided to get a cat, I named her Gelato.”
Samantha also revealed that she can eat ‘comfortably’ now but not ‘excessively’. She spoke about the constant queries and chatter around her weight loss, adding, “Now, I’m in a good place where I can eat comfortably. Not excessively, but eat. I’m always asked, why did you lose so much weight? People never really know what’s going on with someone. It’s not like I don’t want to eat, I can’t eat.”
When Samantha Ruth Prabhu revealed her myositis diagnosis
After her divorce from Naga Chaitanya in 2021, and while promoting her film Yashoda in 2022, Samantha revealed on social media that she was diagnosed with the autoimmune condition. “A few months back I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called Myositis. I was hoping to share this after it had gone into remission. But it is taking a little longer than I hoped,” she wrote, posting a picture of herself with an IV line and hoping that she’s closer to recovery.
“When I had to take that break recently, I was hustling the most. I wanted to do many films and keep doing it. I never thought there would be retirement. You become so egoistic as an actor that you see no end, you refuse to see there is an end. After this recent break, I could envision that end for me, and that really changed me in many ways. I made certain decisions during the break, like if I come back to this profession after the break, I will have to change a lot of things, a lot of old patterns,” she recently told Gulte.
Maa Inti Bangaram is directed by Nandini Reddy and stars Samantha, Gautami, Sreemukhi, Diganth, Gulshan Devaiah and others. It will be released in theatres on June 19. Samantha is now married to Raj Nidimoru and Chaitanya is married to Sobhita Dhulipala.
