Nikki Bella is ready to live her life on her own terms, and she's making it clear that her ex, wrestling superstar John Cena, isn't part of her plans. The 35-year-old performer told Cosmopolitan in a recent interview that she's so much more than just John Cena's ex.
"I don't want my relationship to define who I am as a woman," she said. "And to take away all of the hard work that I've ever done in my career. I think for a man, it's different. I feel like, if anything, the woman gets blamed for what happens, for taking away from what they do. But I get all my work taken away because of that. I don't know, I feel like sometimes there's a double standard, and I really have felt that. And it's been really, really hard."
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Because of that, she's ready to cut all ties with her former beau. "We both are at the point that we just don't want to be talked about at all together anymore," she added. "We don't want our breakup to define us or interfere with our work. And that was happening for a while."
Bella and Cena had a tumultuous relationship that often found its way into the headlines, in part because they documented it on Bella's show Total Bellas. Shortly after getting engaged, the two split due to Cena's stance on having children. Later, he promised that he'd reverse his vasectomy so the two could give parenting a go. Ultimately, his vow wasn't enough to keep the two together, and here we are. Things must be at a low point, because Bella wouldn't even say Cena's name throughout her Cosmo interview.
Hey, if erasing your ex from your vocabulary is what you have to do to regain your independence, we're all for it.
Refinery29 reached out to Bella's rep for comment.