Samantha Ruth Prabhu says she felt a ‘loss of identity’ after myositis diagnosis: ‘Went through that phase of, why me?’

Samantha Ruth Prabhu spoke about being diagnosed with myositis and how it made her feel out of control. Here's what she said.

In 2022, actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu made it public that she had been diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder myositis. She took a break from acting to focus on her health and recovery. Four years later, the actor says that she felt a ‘loss of identity’ and like she had ‘no control’ when she first heard about the diagnosis.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu made her myositis diagnosis public in 2022.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu on her myositis diagnosis

In an interview with THR India, Samantha was asked about facing turmoil in her life, including personal issues and health issues. Focusing on the health aspect, the actor stated that confidence is something she had to carefully build through workouts and a routine to ensure she looked and dressed a certain way. However, her diagnosis changed all that.

“It’s carefully built, this confidence. But when something like a health issue happens to you, sickness really doesn’t care how confident you look. I felt such a loss of identity when that happened to me. I felt like I had no control. It took me a while that I do have control over how I respond to it. I don’t have to fake confidence, but there are other lessons that I need to learn,” she said.

Samantha further explained, “Which is resilience, faith, hope, and these things are important qualities that sickness taught me. As a result, everything got better. As much as I’d like not to have gone through this. It taught me lessons that have become an invaluable part of my life. I went through that phase of, why me? It took me a while to get to the, there’s something to learn from this.”

Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s life and career

Samantha worked with Naga Chaitanya in the 2010 Telugu film Ye Maaya Chesave and began dating him on and off. They got engaged in Hyderabad in 2017 and married in Goa later the same year. In 2021, the couple got divorced, and Samantha removed the surname ‘Akkineni’ from her social media. They confirmed the split days ahead of their anniversary.

In 2022, Samantha made it public that she had been battling myositis for a few months. She took a break from films to focus on her health and recovery. In 2023, rumours began to circulate that she was dating Raj Nidimoru, with whom she worked on The Family Man Season 2 and Citadel: Honey Bunny. He was married to Shhyamali De, and it’s unknown when they got divorced. Chaitanya married Sobhita Dhulipala in December 2024.

Samantha and Raj married at Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore in December 2025. They worked together for Nandini Reddy’s Maa Inti Bangaaram this year. The couple is expecting their first baby.