Brie Bella Gets Candid About Twin Nikki’s Broken Engagement to John Cena

A week removed from her public split from WWE Superstar and fiancé John Cena, Nikki Bella made her first public appearance on Saturday alongside sister Brie at the Nirvana Food and Wine Festival in Arizona.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Brie opened up about her sister’s breakup and where she’ll go from here.

“She’s good, they call her fearless Nikki for a reason,” Brie said. “She always puts on that brave face. My sister has more strength than any other woman I know, especially Wonder Woman. She’s bigger than that.”

“I have to give a lot of credit to John and Nicole,” she continued. “They really opened up their lives and they really wanted to close the curtain and be like this is it, we’re done. My sister is really great with her fans in a way where she lets them connect with her. She lets them like go, ‘My life isn’t perfect and isn’t easy’ and lets them see the playbook of her life.”

Brie confirmed the split will be heavily covered and examined in the upcoming seasons of the Total Divas spinoff, Total Bellas.

“I really had to take a step back and allow it and that was really hard on me because it’s my twin. I want to protect her from everything,” Brie said. “This has been the hardest season to film for me because all I want to do is protect her and keep everyone away, but this is what we do.

“John and Nicole allow the fans to see some very personal conversations, that to be honest, I was mind blown about. [Husband] Brian and I both said, ‘I don’t think we’d allow them to see those conversations’ but they do. I give them a lot of credit. You get to see where they’re at today and see that unravel.”

Bella and Cena had been in a relationship for six years, with Cena famously proposing to Bella in the middle of the ring at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.

The split was announced via an Instagram statement on April 15.

“After much contemplation and 6 years of being together Nikki Bella and John Cena announced today their decision to separate as a couple,” the statement read. “‘While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of love and respect for one another. We ask that you respect our privacy during this time in our lives.’”

Bella has since put out a number of Instagram posts thanking fans for their support.