Lupita Nyong'o says her cat has helped mend her broken heart.
The 41-year-old actress adopted rescue cat Yoyo last year after her painful split from presenter Selema Masekela, and she was determined to "shut that door" after the breakup before finding a different kind of love with the moggy.
She told Harper's Bazaar magazine: "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. He has ensured that my heart remains open.”
Lupita admitted she was actually scared of felines until she filmed this year's 'A Quiet Place: Day One', which sees her character accompanied by a service cat.
She laughed: "My family can't get over it. My sisters are so disturbed every time I send them a picture of Yoyo. They’re like, oh my God, our sister has been stolen.’”
Last October, Lupita confirmed her split from Selema, and made reference to "deception" causing the end to their relationship.
She wrote on Instagram at the time: “It is necessary for me to share a personal truth and publicly dissociate myself from someone I can no longer trust…
“I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception.”
Now, the '12 Years A Slave' star has revealed she still "beats herself up" over not seeing the signs.
She explained: "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 ignored it. Why did I ignore it?’
"It can get toxic to beat yourself up about a past you can't change, but it’s also an opportunity to learn about yourself.”
And while she has been open about her relationship rollercoaster in public before, she is planning to be more reserved in the future.
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.”
