Lupita Nyong’o was 'living in a lot of pain and heartbreak' after Selema Masekela split

Lupita Nyong’o was "living in a lot of pain and heartbreak" following her split from Selema Masekela.

The 40-year-old actress took to social media in October last year to announce that she and TV host Selema , 52, had called time on their relationship after a year together and despite her hesitation to share the news has now admitted that she ended up being so "moved" by the supportive response of her fans.

She told Net-a-Porter: " In my mind, when I shared my relationship status with the world, it was because I felt sure about it. I was living in a lot of pain and heartbreak. I looked at the environment of my social media and thought, I don’t want to be a part of this illusion that everything is always coming up roses.

"Surely there is a lesson for me to learn in this, and I just want to be real about it.

"I knew how it could be interpreted; I knew it would have a life of its own. But then I started to see the comments and people were being so loving and supportive. The ones that moved me the most were other people sharing their pain and their heartbreak."