Sobhita Dhulipala reveals her romance with Naga Chaitanya started through an Instagram AMA: ‘Why aren’t you following Chay Akkineni?’

While Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala have never shied away from expressing their love for each other — both privately and on social media — they have largely kept the relationship out of the public eye. As a result, even finding too many pictures of them together is quite a task. Despite numerous rumours surrounding the timeline of their romance, the couple has mostly kept such details under wraps. However, they have finally shared how their connection began, which is particularly intriguing since they have never worked together.

Sobhita recently revealed that a simple and seemingly trivial Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Instagram marked the beginning of it all. That was when she discovered Chaitanya was following her on the social media platform, though she hadn’t followed him back. “I was sifting through the questions (which she received during the AMA session) when I saw one that asked, ‘Why aren’t you following Chay Akkineni?’ I was like, ‘What?’ So I went to his profile and saw that he was following only around 70 people, including me. I was a tiny bit flattered, so I followed him back,” she shared during a chat with Vogue.

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What initially seemed like a simple online interaction soon sparked mutual admiration. Sobhita was particularly drawn to Chaitanya’s posts about sushi, given that he co-owns a pan-Asian cloud kitchen. Their chats in DMs became more frequent, evolving from casual exchanges into meaningful conversations that deepened their bond. Eventually, in April 2022, Chaitanya decided to take the next step and flew to Mumbai to take Sobhita out for a breakfast date.

Even then, the two admitted, love didn’t blossom instantly. As Chaitanya had just ended his four-year marriage to actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu, neither of them was certain about the future of their relationship. “There was no mic drop. It just happened very organically,” she clarified. Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala tied the knot on December 4, 2024, at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad.