Amicable exes! Despite Nikki Bella and John Cena breaking up in 2018 after six years together, the Total Bellas star wishes her ex-fiancé the best. Since their split, the pair of exes have moved on — Nikki is engaged to fiancé Artem Chigvintsev, and they welcomed their first 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 together on August 1, 2020. Meanwhile, John married brunette beauty Shay Shariatzadeh in a private ceremony on October 12.
Though Nikki has nothing but love for her former beau, she can’t help but look back and wish some things had been different. “I have many regrets about that relationship. The primary one is that I wish I’d known myself better before I got into it,” Nikki said in her memoir, Incomparable, which she wrote with her sister, Brie Bella.
“I wish I’d understood how the patterns in my life, and my relationship with my own father, informed how I react to love, boundaries and feelings of abandonment,” she continued. Nikki’s dad, Jon Garcia, wasn’t around much because they didn’t have the best relationship throughout the years.
In March 2020, the former wrestler revealed she had to get John’s approval to include him in her book. “Because of contracts I signed, he had editing rights,” she told Entertainment Tonight in March. “So he’s read his chapter. He edited it. Anything that I do with him has to go through approval through him.”
Nikki and John called off their engagement in April 2018. “While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of respect for one another,” she announced on Instagram at the time. They got back together that summer and officially split in July. Nikki then began dating Artem in January 2019, while John became official with Shay later that year.
Nikki has gushed about how happy she is with Artem on social media. It seems like John feels the same way about his lady. “In John’s eyes, Shay’s the whole package,” an insider told Life & Style. “She’s beautiful, intelligent, kind, independent and family-orientated and there’s rarely any drama between them.”
Like any good ex, Nikki is glad to see John happy in his relationship. Keep scrolling to see everything Nikki Bella has said about her ex John Cena’s new relationship.
After Nikki and Brie welcomed their sons, John reached out to the siblings to congratulate them. However, Nikki made it clear their interaction was brief and not a common occurrence.
“We do not talk. We do not text. Yes, he congratulated my sister on a group text with our babies … because he’s a gentleman,” the California native explained during a November 18 episode of “The Bellas Podcast.”
“There was nothing more than just a ‘congratulations on your 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 boys,” Nikki assured before making mention of Shay. “He is so happy in his relationship. I am so happy in mine.”
On November 11, 2020, Nikki finally broke her silence on John’s surprise wedding. While she says she didn’t reach out to congratulate him, she is happy for the stud. “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!”
“When I saw the headline, it was [texted] to me by a few people … My stomach went into knots,” she shared on “The Bellas Podcast” in April 2020 while reflecting on the moment she learned John had moved on with Shay.
“When I saw the photo, it was weird,” Nikki continued. “Girls and guys, we can all talk about this. When you get a text or a photo, you know how you get those knots in your stomach. You want to s—t [your] pants immediately or you have the craziest tummy ache. So neither of those happened to me.”
“It’s been tough. If you only know how much therapy I’ve been in. Weekly,” she added, referring to the aftermath of their split. “There’s a lot that we don’t talk about why we broke up that we’re working on and making each other even better people.”
“He’s one of the people, who’s made me an amazing person,” Nikki divulged. “But because of how sad and how much I hurt him, when I saw the big smile on his face, I felt happy for him. I am very happy for him. As long as John is happy, I’m happy. But let me tell you, she breaks his heart? Wow. I will rack attack her in a heartbeat. I’m still protective of that man.”
“I’ve loved [seeing him move on],” Nikki said at the 3rd Annual Best Buddies Mother’s Day Celebration in Malibu in May 2019. “I’ve been so happy for him because I think of the decisions that I’ve made… walking away and just needing to find myself because I felt like I lost it.”
“I literally would pray every day, like all I want him is to be happy and to find happiness,” Nikki confessed. “And it’s true. He’s still so close to my family and all I ever want is for his happiness. He seems so happy now and that makes me really happy.”