John Cena and Nikki Bella seemed like they were living a WWE fairy tale for the past six years, but sadly the couple has decided to end their engagement [1] just a few weeks before their May 5 wedding day. They shared the news on Sunday night, and opened up about it in a brief statement to Us Weekly.
"While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of love and respect for one another," they said. "We ask that you respect our privacy during this time in our lives."
Nikki and John, who got engaged last April at Wrestlemania [2], had been going strong since 2012. Fans got plenty of glimpses into how in love they were thanks to reality shows such as Total Divas and Total Bellas; they were most recently seen on April 3 at the premiere of John's new movie, Blockers [3]. In addition to their statement, each of them have posted messages to their Instagram accounts — Nikki's is a rehash of their statement, while John's hints at the "worst day ever."
View this post on Instagram[5]
View this post on Instagram[7]
Neither of them has further elaborated on why they decided to part ways, but given their typically honest relationship with fans, they'll likely soon discuss it on social media or the upcoming season of Total Bellas. In the meantime, John has been busy sharing inspiring quotes with his followers on Twitter.
Hardship, loss, and humility are extremely difficult waters to navigate, but perseverance thru them builds a strength to withstand anything life throws your way.
— John Cena (@JohnCena) April 16, 2018 [9]
Anybody feeling down, check out #WaltWhitman [10] has always been a helpful voice in times of crisis. Beautifully wild thinker, and was certainly onto something with ideas like these. pic.twitter.com/tGl3p9smFl [11]
— John Cena (@JohnCena) April 15, 2018 [12]