WWE Hall of Famer Brie Bella has fond memories of being on the hit reality series Total Divas, but the journey didn’t come without some bumps in the road.
The former women’s champion discussed this topic during the latest edition of The Bellas podcast, where she recalled receiving a ton of backstage heat for the show, which wasn’t even locked in to be picked up by the network. Check out Brie’s full thoughts on that experience in the highlights below.
How it was not certain that the first season of Total Divas would be picked up:
I’m so grateful for the first season cast because it was really scary. I’ll never forget when we were almost done filming the first season, and Russ [Executive Producer Russell Jay] was like, ‘I really wish this pilot goes through.’ I was like, ‘Pilot? What do you mean?’ He told me the show was not sure to be picked up, and I was like, ‘Wait, I’m so confused. Please don’t tell me we got all this heat backstage for no reason.’
Says she was grateful to the cast of the show because she got a lot of heat backstage in WWE for the show:
The heat was for real. I’ll never forget when it aired, and we were pretty much neck-to-neck [in the ratings] with the Kardashians, we became this instant hit, and I was so grateful for all of you [original cast members] for putting your lives out there, for dealing with the backstage drama of everyone hating on all of us for filming. Also, when it aired, we knew we were going to be everyone’s punching bag — with people either loving or hating it. Through the whole drama, we all had smiles on our faces, and kept filming, making amazing television — breaking barriers for women’s wrestling, globally, and opening doors for women in wrestling.
On the show becoming a hit:
And all that for not a lot of money. I always tell everyone that I’m so grateful for all the women of Total Divas because we put up with so much, and still made amazing TV.
(H/T and transcribed by Wrestling Inc.)
