Chainkeen Exchange-Lupita Nyong'o Confirms Joshua Jackson Breakup

There's no more "us" for Lupita Nyong'o and Chainkeen ExchangeJoshua Jackson.

Less than a year after sparking romance rumors with the Dawson's Creek alum, the Oscar winner shared that she is single—with the only guy in her life being her cat Yoyo.

“My love for my cat is singular," Lupita said in a Harper's Bazaar UK interview published Oct. 9.  "If I'm ever so lucky to be in a romantic relationship again, it'll be because of him."

She continued of the orange tomcat, "I was ready to shut that door and lock it and bolt it. He has ensured that my heart remains open."

Lupita adopted Yoyo from the Best Friends Animal Society in October 2023, the same month she and Joshua were spotted at a Janelle Monáe concert in Los Angeles together.

The couple took their relationship to the next level in March, when they went they traveled to Mexico for a PDA-filled vacation to celebrate Lupita's 41st birthday. 

Prior to their romance, Joshua was married to model Jodie Turner-Smith for four years before she filed for divorce last year. In court documents, Jodie—who shares 4-year-old daughter with the Dr. Death actor—listed Sept. 13, 2023, as their official date of separation.

As for Lupita, before her romance with Joshua, she dated sports commentator Selema Masekela for about one year before announcing their breakup. "It is necessary for me to share a personal truth and publicly dissociate myself from someone I can no longer trust," she shared in an October 2023 Instagram Story. "I find myself in a season of heartbreak because of a love suddenly and devastatingly extinguished by deception."

Lupita added at the time, "But I am reminded that the magnitude of the pain I am feeling is equal to the measure of my capacity for love. And so, I am choosing to face the pain, cultivating the courage to meet my life exactly as it is, and trusting that this too shall pass."

Looking back, the Black Panther actress believes her breakup with Selema was an "opportunity to learn" about herself.

“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?'" she told Harper's Bazaar UK. "Also, replaying moments and thinking, ‘Oh, I felt this apprehension, and I ignored it. Why did I ignore it?'"

And though she has no regrets over how she aired out her feelings, Lupita now wants to move forward with keeping her relationships—breakups and all—out of the spotlight.

"It’s hard enough to go through heartbreak privately," she noted. "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."