New Delhi: Fans of south superstars Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya have been in shock ever since the duo released a statement confirming the news of their separation. Their statement reads, “To all our well wishers. After much deliberation and though Chay and I have decided to part ways as husband and wife to pursue our own paths. We are fortunate to have a friendship of over a decade that was very core of our relationship which we believe will always hold a special bond between us. We request our fans, well-wishers and the media to support us during this difficult time and give us the privacy we need to move on. Thanking you for your support.”

There has been a lot of speculation around their split. Fans also took note of Samantha’s stylist Preetham Jukalker’s social media posts that suggested that the ‘Family One’ actress was a victim in her marriage. The stylist’s now-deleted posts read, “They are the ones who hide the true nature of men in their homes. They are responsible for the violence against women. The violence these days is a form of psychological harassment and criticism.” 

It is to be noted that his posts did not mention anyone from the Akkineni family.

For the unversed, rumours of ChaySam divorce (as they are fondly referred by their fans) gained ground after Sam dropped Akkineni (her surname) from her social media handles. 

Samantha and Chaitanya met on the set of Gautham Menon’s iconic 2010 Telugu film ‘Ye Maaya Chesave’ and started dating soon. After dating for eight long years, they got engaged in January 2017 and tied the knot in Goa in October 2017. As performers, the couple featured together in three more films – ‘Manam’, ‘Autonagar Surya’ and ‘Majili’.

On the work front, Samantha made her digital debut with Manoj Bajpayee starrer ‘The Family Man Season 2’ this which earned her massive appreciation. Naga’s film ‘Love Story’ with Sai Pallavi was released on September 30, 2021.