Nov. 23 (UPI) — Nikki Bella recounted recently how she was nearly abducted when she was 15 years old by a man she described as being half-naked.
Bella discussed the harrowing tale while appearing on former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia’s podcast, “Chasing Glory.”
“I remember walking home one day from school and this car pulled up behind me really slow and it gave me a really weird feeling and all of a sudden it skimmed me and the man was half naked and tried to pull me into his car and saying crazy things to me,” the Total Divas star said.
“It was terrifying. I remember like fighting, running to the nearest house, screaming, crying. Like praying the person the person was home because I didn’t know I was being chased. Being a 15-year-old girl, that year I went through so much and it like broke me,” she continued.
Bella also described how she went into depression after a revealing image of herself was taken and passed around school, an incident the 34-year-old said left her “destroyed and embarrassed” and made her lock away her emotions.
Bella says she still struggles with showing her emotions today but that her fiance John Cena is helping. “John has really brought that out in me. So I think it was like the first time people saw me give such goo goo eyes or be so happy and giddy. He would start to break it,” Bella said. “John, I have this giddiness with him and I get lost in his big ole arms and I’m swept off my feet. I think my mom is kind of this way too. We’re just such strong women. My mom’s been through so much, so I think that’s where I got it from.”
Bella and Cena famously became engaged in the middle of a WWE ring in April at WrestleMania 33.
Garcia exited WWE in August 2016 after a 15-year stint with the company. She announced WWE Superstars as they entered the ring and sang the national anthem before every show.
