When Us Weekly sat down with Nikki Bella in December, the 34-year-old acknowledged there was some tension in her relationship with fellow wrestler John Cena.
“John doesn’t want to have kids, so it’s taken a lot of therapy to be OK with knowing I won’t be a mom,” she told Us. “I’m not going to lie, there are times when I still pray that one day he’ll change his mind. But as of now, no family.”
The Total Divas star admitted that being around her sister Brie Bella’s daughter Birdie, 11 months, was giving her “such baby fever.” But she was trying to remain positive about the situation. “I’ll be Auntie Coco,” Nikki told Us brightly. “The cool one for life.”
The couple revealed to Us Weekly on Sunday, April 15, that after six years together they were ending their engagement. WWE champion Cena, 40, proposed at WrestleMaia 33 in April 2017 and they were planning to tie the knot on May 5.
In March, the Daddy’s Home 2 actor told Us that “relationships are hard,” and that love is beautiful but never easy. But he and Nikki were committed to keeping the lines of communication open.
“We work every day on us. We have our problems just like everybody else,” Cena said. “Some of our problems are very public, some of them aren’t. But we work every day on us. Anytime I get upset, I always just realize that I can’t live without her and I love her and that’s why I cave in on a lot of stuff.”
Cena noted that they often went months without seeing one another because of their busy schedules. “I would never ever want Nicole to be in a position where she says, ‘I’m holding you back from doing this because I feel it’s wrong for us.’ And I would never say that to her,” he told Us. “When we do see each other, it’s our time together. I think, for not at least, that is certainly what’s making this work.”
In a statement on Sunday, the former pair called their decision to part ways “a difficult one.”
“We continue to have a great detail of love and respect for one another,” they told Us. “We ask that you respect our privacy during this difficult time in our lives.”
