Priyanka Chopra Jonas Tells Oprah Winfrey Her Father’s Death from Cancer Changed Her Relationship with God

“I was very angry, my relationship with God changed a little bit… but then at the same time, I feel like God helped me find salvation and come out of it too,” she says. “But at that time, it was tested. Oh man, I went to every temple there was to go to. I did every prayer there was to do. I met every godman or woman I needed to meet, every doctor that I needed to go to.”

Chopra Jonas, who has a tattoo on her right handing reading “Daddy’s lil girl” in her father’s handwriting, details the effort she put in to fight her father’s cancer.

“I flew my dad to Singapore, New York, Europe, India, everywhere just to do whatever I could to prolong his life” she says. “It’s such a helpless feeling.”

Since her father’s passing, Chopra Jonas married singer Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers and has starred in pop culture touchstones Baywatch and Quantico. But she still misses her father.

“I miss most about him just how unabashedly proud of me he would be in the littlest things. Even if I am having dinner and my plate is clean, my dad would be excited. If I wore a dress that I liked, my dad would be excited,” she tells Winfrey. “From the littlest thing to the biggest thing, he would be the loudest in the room. I miss the noise, the excitement he had, the joy and investment he had into my life and just how excited he used to be about everything about me.”

You can watch the complete Super Soul episode with Chopra now on Discovery+. The podcast version is available March 24.

 

She has a unique perspective on things and makes the conversation so insightful and fun. I had the best time. Thank you for having me @Oprah. It was such a pleasure.

You can stream my episode of @SuperSoulSunday now on @discoveryplus

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PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) March 20, 2021

Dealing With Grief

Grief like the cancer process is a journey and will be wholly unique to the person experiencing it. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to grieve. Many people who are grieving the loss of a loved one to cancer find comfort and support in outlets such as therapy, support groups or simply opening up to friends and family.

In an interview with SurvivorNet, Doug Wendt, who lost his wife Alice to ovarian cancer, said of the grieving process: "We're never gonna move on, I don't even think I want to move on, but I do want to move forward. That's an important distinction and I encourage anybody who goes through this journey as a caregiver and then has to face loss, to think very carefully about how to move forward."

Related: After Losing His Wife, Jo, To Ovarian Cancer, Actor Steve Buscemi Opens Up About Grief and Isolation As Advances Bring Hope

While moving forward takes tremendous time and is an emotional process, it is possible. Time does not heal all wounds, but it can make those wounds easier to bear.

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