John Cena And Nikki Bella: A Timeline Of Their Relationship

Love wins! From their first date in 2012 to their recent split and reconciliation, Us Weekly is revisiting John Cena and Nikki Bella’s love story.After being friends for years, Cena and Bella went on their first date in 2012. The WWE diva opened up about their first outing during a 2014 interview with WWE....
“On my best first date, there was a very big, handsome man with an amazing smile and dimples," she gushed. "He came to my hotel and picked me up as if we were in the same city and took me to a nice steakhouse. We just talked and chatted for hours … That first one went into the second one where we just had an amazing dance in the middle of the restaurant.”

The pair seemed to be in a good place as they moved in together in 2013, but it was later revealed during an October 2016 episode of Total Bellas that the champion fighter made Bella sign a 75-page agreement before their move could be official.

One of the main issues in Cena and Bella’s relationship, which they openly discussed on E!'s Total Divas and Total Bellas, was the diva’s desire to get married and be a mother. While the Trainwreck star could be convinced to tie the knot, he was adamant about not wanting kids. Bella even confessed to Us in 2017 that it took “a lot of therapy” to accept she wasn’t going to be a mom and admitted she prayed he would change his mind.

After the duo defeated The Miz and his wife, Maryse, in a wrestling match, Cena got down on one knee at Wrestlemania 33 in April 2017 and proposed to Bella after five years of dating. “I have been waiting so long to ask you this,” he said in front of the crowd of 70,000 fans. “Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace, will you marry me?” After she said yes, the audience went wild as the pair embraced for a passionate kiss.

In March 2018, Cena admitted to Us Weekly his relationship with Bella wasn’t perfect and confessed they sometimes go “months” without seeing each other. “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,” he explained. Less than a week after the duo made a public appearance at Wrestlemania 34, he shared cryptic Instagram messages that also hinted that there were issues between them. “We were together. I forget the rest,” one of the photos he posted in April 2018.

After six years together, Cena and Bella exclusively revealed in April 2018 in a joint statement to Us Weekly that they had called off their wedding: “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.”

Nearly a month after their split, the Blockers star confessed his love for Bella during a May 2018 appearance on the Today show. “I still love Nicole, I would love to marry Nicole, I still would love to have a family with Nicole. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances where our relationship ended,” he told Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. “I love her. I want to be with her. I want to make her my wife. I want to be the father of her children. I just want us to work.” Bella, for her part, told Extra that same day that she was “speechless” after watching her ex’s interview.

Us Weekly exclusively confirmed in May 2018 that the pair had reunited. “Nikki called off the wedding earlier this month so she could have more time to make a decision with what she wanted in life,” an insider close to the pair told Us. “Calling off the wedding was the right decision at the moment and their relationship only grew from it. It didn’t mean that any love was lost, or that they lost any feelings for one another, but they both have realized that they love each other and want to be with one another.”

Just days after Us Weekly revealed that they were back together, the couple took to social media to post inspirational messages on June 2. Bella posted a quote that read “Storms don’t last forever,” while her beau wrote, “Being accountable is a great way to face who you are. We often speak of aspiration and quickly point out the faults of others, yet fail to heed our words or be brave enough to be accountable for our own faults.”

Cena admitted he had changed his tune regarding having kids, telling TMZ in an interview on June 3 that he “would love to be a dad.” “I realize very much that I have been steadfast in saying that I don’t want children. But I’m a little bit older now, a bit wiser. At age 18, we say things different at age 25, at 35,” he revealed. “I would love it only because I dedicated my life to my work and now I’m realizing that there is life and life exists and it’s beautiful and I think part of that is being a parent, so we’ll see.”

Despite getting back together, the couple need time to rebuild their relationship. “There has been no discussion about a wedding. They’re not officially engaged again. They are working on their relationship day by day," an insider close to the pair told Us Weekly. "There’s nothing going on more than them trying to figure out their situation.”