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John Cena & Nikki Bella Officially Called Off Their Engagement, & We’re Not OK

Is 2018 cursed? It seems like couples we love can’t stop splitting up, making doleful public statements about parting ways and subsequently derailing their respective fan bases for a couple of days as they process the news. This is exactly the spot we find ourselves in yet again after the announcement that John Cena and Nikki Bella have split up after six years together, which included a one-year engagement.

More: 36 Hollywood Couples Who’ve Called It Quits in 2018

The wrestling stars announced their split in a joint statement and also confirmed the split to Us Weekly via a rep. The former couple’s statement is short and sweet, reading, “While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of love and respect for one another. We ask that you respect our privacy during this time in our lives.”

The rep’s confirmation echoes this sentiment, although there’s a little less warmth to it: “After much contemplation and six years of being together Nikki Bella and John Cena announced today their decision to separate as a couple.”


Bella put up both statements on her Instagram on Sunday night while Cena posted a meme of Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons saying, “Worst day ever,” on his Instagram. Neither Bella nor Cena has released any further statement or posted anything on their social media accounts indicating a reason for the split.

More: One Little Boy Brought Tough Guy John Cena to Tears in Sweet Video

As with most celebrity splits that come out of nowhere, you can’t help but feel there must be more to the story. Bella and Cena have been reticent to explain what split them up, and while there’s no reason to presume there’s something sinister here (gosh, let’s hope not), their split feels very sudden all the same.

Up until the weekend of April 14, the pair has given the world the impression they were still very much in love. Bella was Cena’s date to the world premiere of his latest film, Blockers, in Los Angeles on April 3. Also, while Cena was never one to post a ton of personal photos on his Instagram, Bella was posting photos of them looking very lovey-dovey and as recently as April 9 was publicly gushing about being engaged to Cena — she posted a stop-motion video recreation of Cena’s proposal at WrestleMania 33 in April 2017, writing in the caption, “Omg love this! lol I can’t believe this was last year at WrestleMania! What a moment, still get chills and tears every time. Honestly feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”


Bella and Cena were a couple from 2012 to 2018. The pair has been as dedicated to their work as they were to one another. Cena has been transitioning more and more into acting while Bella remains focused on her wrestling career. That said, Cena admitted in a March 2018 interview that he and Bella did work on their relationship each and every day.

As he told Us Weekly, “Relationships are hard. Don’t ever think that love is easy. Love is beautiful, but we’ve had to come to the realization after being together for five years that love is not easy. We work every day on us. We have our problems just like everybody else. 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.”

More: Nikki Bella Is Refreshingly Candid About the Sacrifices She Made for Love

There’s no word yet on how Cena and Bella will handle this split — will they stay out of the public eye or continue to work? Either way, it’s safe to say fans of the couple will definitely need some time to process.

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