Nikki Bella skipped Sunday night’s WrestleMania 35 because she did not want to run into ex-fiance John Cena.
Bella told Us Weekly she was avoiding the WWE‘s biggest event of the year because the memories of his proposal during WrestleMania 33 in April 2017 are still fresh to her.
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“I never thought the man of my dreams was gonna ask me to marry him and he did,” she told the outlet. “So it’s still a bit sensitive to me.”
Still, the Total Divas star said she has “seen him a few times” since the breakup, but still wanted to avoid WrestleMania at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
While Bella was avoiding the main event, she shared videos on her Instagram Story that appear to confirm she was still in the New York area for pre-WrestleMania parties. In one video, she told fans she and her twin sister Brie were heading to the NBCUniversal party Sunday before the main event.
Bella, 35, and Cena, 41, started dating in 2012 and got engaged in 2017. The couple called off their engagement in March 2018 and briefly reconciled before breaking up again in July.
Since the split, Bella has started dating Dancing With The Stars pro dancer Artem Chigvintsev. She confirmed they are dating during her podcast The Bellas last month.
“Yes, we are dating,” Bella said. “Yes, I spend the night at his house. Yes, we have date lunches at Joan’s on Third and we like to get food for his house — or should I say, produce from the farmer’s market.”
She later explained, “Artem and I are dating. We are not engaged, we are not married, we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend, we don’t say ‘I love you’” and said they are “having fun” together exploring Los Angeles.
Last week, the Bella sisters announced they will be leaving Total Divas. The two recently finished the fourth season of their own spin-off, Total Bellas.
“Nikki and I realized this year that it is time to say goodbye to Total Divas,” Brie said.
“Brie and I have been with the franchise from the beginning and have literally put our hearts and souls and our lives on TV,” Bella explained. “[We wanted to] help make it into a big franchise, to help make it a success, to truly change people’s minds about women in wrestling and how much women in the wrestling industry do in and out of the ring.”
As for Cena, he was recently seen with Shay Shariatzadeh, a product manager he met in Vancouver.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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