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Partners
Cape Town – The Bellas are back with more drama, more fun and more wrestling in season three of their reality TV show, Total Bellas.
The show follows wrestling pros Brie and her husband Bryan Danielson and Nikki and fiancé John Cena as they navigate through their personal and professional lives.
During a recent telephone interview with Brie, Channel24 got the scoop on what to expect from the new season, how motherhood has changed the way she approaches wrestling and how open Nikki and John are about their relationship.
ON THREE SEASONS OF SHARING EVERYTHING
Three seasons in, you would think Brie’s perception about sharing her entire life with the world through TV has changed – but it hasn’t.
“It’s great because it really hasn’t changed that much, I mean, reality is what it is. It’s something where you have to put your life out there, the good and the bad is going to be showcased and the whole world is going to have an opinion about it – they’re either going to love you or hate you and tell you, you should be living your life one way while you’re just trying to be you.”
But while both Brie and Nikki have become accustomed to share their lives with the world, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
“What’s interesting about this season of Total Bellas is that John and Nikki really open up about their relationship and this is the part of reality that’s really tough,” says Brie, adding that “there’s so many times you just want to tell the cameras to go away because it’s so private and personal.”
Season 3 sees Nikki’s on again/off again engagement to john Cena play out with the couple airing their break-up and recent make-up.
ON FILMING HER BABY DAUGHTER
The season also shows Brie and Bryan learning to become parents to their baby daughter Birdie which includes filming segments with the little one – another personal decision that proved difficult for Brie to make.
Speaking about deciding to include her daughter in the reality show, Brie says: “Bryan and I kept going back and forth, but when she was born I didn’t allow any filming for the first two-and-a-half-months at all. I just wanted to shut down from the world and learn how to be a mom in those months.
“But the nice thing is that we are so close with the camera crew and the production crew and so they were really respectful and just said, ‘you let us know when’s a good time to film,’ so yeah.”
Brie adds that she still gets nervous about perhaps showing too much of Birdie on TV but believes that as long as she is a good role model, especially on TV, then her little girl will be just fine.
“I get nervous about showing too much of my kid but I think as long as I am always open and honest with Birdie and I’m a good role model, especially in front of the cameras, I think that will just mould her into the same.”
ON GETTING BACK INTO THE RING
Following the birth of Birdie, Brie got straight back to training to get back into the ring – something the new mom was apprehensive about.
Speaking about whether her approach to the ring has changed now that she is a mom, Bris says: “Yes and no.”
“It’s interesting because I go in there [the ring] and I obviously don’t want to hurt myself but because I am trained I don’t really think about that.
“Wrestling was my number one love and I was surrounded by it all the time but it’s crazy now to have Birdie who has become my number one priority and so when I was making my way back to the ring it was difficult to find a balance between breastfeeding and getting back to training.”
That being said, Brie adds that the minute she got back in the ring she immediately felt empowered.
“I have to say, the minute I got back into that ring, it was just such an empowering feeling because I think, as a new mom, at times we forget about who we were before we gave birth and you’re trying to find this new identity and figure out who you are so getting back in the ring was amazing because it made me feel like a little bit of the old Brie was mixing with the new.”
ON FINDING THE PASSION AGAIN
Following the birth of Birdie, Brie and Bryan feel the passion of their marriage slowly drifting away, something viewers will see they work hard at reigniting.
“It’s funny because so many parents would tell me, ‘Oh once you have kids the relationship fades,’ and I was like, ‘No way!’ but now I’m like, ‘Oh yes it does!’”
The 34-year-old goes on to explain that while she and Bryan immediately felt closer once they became parents, the intimacy of their relationship went out the door.
“This is how Bryan and I look at it: When he and I were both in the hospital and little Birdie was sleeping in the bassinet, we looked at each other and we were like, ‘Woah! We are now a family, this is our little unit, this is beautiful,’ and we felt in that moment that our relationship went to the next level and the bonding between us went to the next level but it’s the romance that goes out the door.
“That’s what we really have to bond and we really have, in the last four months, forced ourselves to make time and reconnect like how we used to be before Birdie came.”
ON WHAT MORE TO EXPECT THIS SEASON
While Nikki is back to feeling under pressure while planning her now-on-again wedding with John Cena, Brie and Bryan are focused on his wrestling comeback after retiring due to multiple head and brain injuries.
“Well, you’ll see the journey of my husband going back to the ring. It’s crazy because with Total Bellas, we never could go into the doctor’s appointments, but you’d see him go here and there and so we really had no idea if he would ever get back into that ring. But as you all have seen, my husband does not give up and so you’re going to see that, which I find so inspiring. I think people are going to feel something through his passion and dedication.
Watch season 3 of Total Bellas every Sunday at 20:00 on E! Entertainment (DStv 124)
