Nothing but love. Nikki Bella finally broke her silence on ex-fiancé John Cena‘s marriage to his girlfriend of a year, Shay Shariatzadeh, nearly one month after his surprise nuptials.
While the 36-year-old says she hasn’t reached out to congratulate her former beau personally, she couldn’t be more thrilled to see all of his success, both personally and professionally. “All I’ve ever wanted was for him to be happy,” she told Us Weekly. “So, it makes me happy when I see that and, like, him kicking butt in the movie world and all that stuff. I love that!”
She doesn’t even mind that people still ask her about him. “John and I will be tied forever,” she added. “I get that, like, we had a public relationship on a reality show for six years.”
And it seems like the feeling is mutual. Nikki said John contacted both her and sister Brie Bella to congratulate them on the recent births of their babies.
Life & Style confirmed John and Shay’s wedding on Wednesday, October 14, two days after the pair got hitched during a private ceremony in Tampa, Florida. The WWE wrestler’s nuptials come just two years after he and Nikki called off their engagement in May 2018.
“After much contemplation and six years of being together, Nikki Bella and John Cena announced today their decision to separate as a couple,” the pair’s statement on Instagram read at the time. “While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of respect for one another. We ask that you respect our privacy during this time in our lives.”
Much of John, 43, and Nikki’s relationship was documented on E!‘s reality TV series Total Divas. The Trainwreck actor expressed on a number of occasions that he was hesitant about marriage after getting divorced from his first wife, Elizabeth Huberdeau, in 2012. Moreover, John made it clear to Nikki that he never wanted to start a family.
“I know I cannot handle raising a child. And just because everyone else is happy with children doesn’t mean that’s how I have to live,” John expressed during a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone. “I’ve been upfront about this. I just have things I need to get done. It’s not negotiable. We’ve been to therapy over it. I don’t think it will ever be over with. I’m stubborn as f–k and extremely selfish, as well. I don’t want kids; I don’t want marriage. That’s me just saying, ‘Hey, this is my life and this is how I’m going to live.'”
Thankfully, Nikki went on to find The One. In January 2019, the California native began dating her former Dancing With the Stars partner, Artem Chigvintsev. Fast forward to today, and Nikki and Artem, 38, are engaged with a beautiful newborn son named Matteo.
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