Nikki Bella is not quite ready to date following her split from John Cena earlier this year.
ET’s Lauren Zima caught up with Nikki and her twin sister, Brie Bella, at the iHeart Radio Music Festival over the weekend, and she dished all about her relationship status and whether her and John have kept in contact since their split.
“I made a joke about dating, Netflix and black licorice and how it gets boring and it turned into this whole thing where I got quoted saying dating life is boring,” Nikki, 34, said of recent rumors surrounding her dating life. “I was like, ‘No I said Netflix and black licorice and [was boring]’… it’s not what people expect, but I’ve got to admit I am single but I’m not ready for mingling yet.”
“You’ve gotta find yourself first,” Brie emphasized. “You do,” Nikki concurred.
The Total Bellas star noted that she and John, 41, have not spoken recently. “He’s doing him and I’m doing me,” she shared, adding that she’s taking this time to work on herself.
“I slowly feel like I’m doing that,” Nikki said. “I think it’s happiness, and just fully being happy and that’s what I want.”
Though Nikki called the attempts to find herself “scary,” she’s enjoying getting out of her comfort zone.
“I just feel like I’m at that age where I’m discovering who I really am and what I want out of life and just, like, independence,” she said. “Is it scary and you do have these moments of like, ‘What am I doing?’ — and fear. I just kind of am liking the challenge.”
When ET spoke to Nikki earlier this month, she opened up even more about what she’s focusing on since her split.
“I’m really enjoying being an entrepreneur [and] I’m very excited for my comeback at WWE,” Nikki said of her return to wrestling, which is currently being shown on season eight of Total Divas. “I just have this goal in my head of what I want to conquer as an independent woman and I’m going to get there.”
She continued, “You’re better in a relationship when you fully have that self-love and love yourself and know who you are because then you’re just so confident in that relationship.”
Nikki and John got engaged in April 2017, before calling it quits a year later. The pair eventually reconciled and started planning their wedding again, but, as was documented in last season’s Total Bellas, that engagement also ended.
“It’s been, as we all know, a hard few months,” Bella said earlier this month. “[But] the fans have been so supportive and the fact that we got picked up for a new season and people want to continue to watch Brie and I’s journey, it just means so much to us.”
As for the upcoming season of Total Bellas, which is currently filming, Nikki promises lots of happy moments.
“A lot of ups this season, which is great,” Nikki said over the weekend. “I think Brie and I both are just on this very empowering season… I’m back where my home is and my family and those roots.”
Meanwhile, Total Divas airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on E!
