‘Total Bellas’: Nikki Admits Her Parents’ Divorce Is 1 Reason She Didn’t Marry John Cena
Nikki and Brie Bella relived their parents’ troubled relationship on the April 16 episode of ‘Total Bellas,’ and Nikki opened up about how it made her hesitant to walk down the aisle.
The Bella twins’ childhood has been a major storyline on this season of Total Bellas, as Nikki Bella and Brie Bella have reconnected with their biological father, Jon Garcia. Jon and the twins’ mom, Kathy Colace, were together for the first 15 years of Nikki and Brie’s lives, but their relationship was filled with fighting and jealousy, according to the twins. On the April 16 episode of Total Bellas, Nikki and Brie paid their father a visit, and Kahy wasn’t shy about how it made her feel.
As tension mounted between the twins and their mom, Kathy called a meeting for the three of them, along with Nikki and Brie’s brother, JJ Garcia. During the dinner, they hashed out their feelings about the situation, and Nikki opened up about how Kathy and Jon’s relationship took a toll on her as she got older. She explained that seeing her parents’ toxic relationship for so many years is part of what has made her have commitment issues in her past relationships.
“I feel like because of my childhood, it caused me not to have trust in men,” Nikki admitted. “I do see where I carry that into my relationships and even just committing. All I’ve ever thought of is it would be so amazing to walk down the aisle, but then I get close, and I can’t even breathe. Because I’m like…am I just going to be stuck in something that I don’t want to be in? And I just carry that with me because that’s how [mom was] for so long — stuck. And I think that’s just what I learned.”
Nikki famously got engaged to John Cena at Wrestlemania in 2017 after five years of dating. However, it wasn’t long before she began having doubts about whether or not she actually wanted to get married. She briefly called off the wedding in Jan. 2018. Nikki and John worked through it, but by April — just weeks before their May wedding — they split for good.
Luckily, Nikki has (hopefully) been able to get past her commitment issues now that she’s with Artem Chigvintsev. They started dating at the beginning of 2019, and were engaged by November. Nikki and Artem are also currently expecting their first child together. Total Bellas airs Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. on E!.