Brie: Nikki and I live in different states, but we’re on the road about 250 days a year. So we do spend a lot of time together, which means we train a lot on the road. I think the nice thing about that is you always have someone to push and motivate you—but instead of it being a friend, it’s a sister who’s so blunt and honest that you can’t really get away with anything or take it easy.
Nikki: Because we’ve grown up together and have been competitive soccer players, and we both have the same personal trainers, we train a lot alike. It’s better for our workout routines because we know what we like to get in. Plus, we’re both addicted to hot yoga.
Do you ever end up beating each other up?
Brie: There are moments when you’ll be like, “Those girls were just working out together, now they’re at complete opposite sides of the gym.” Our emotions can get in the way. It rarely happens, though.
Nikki: We bicker like an old married couple, you could say. When we work out and get into an argument, it gets pretty physical. We definitely can and will throw the medicine ball a little harder at each other.
Have you girls always dated guys who are Cena-size? (Nikki has been dating John Cena; Brie is engaged to Daniel Bryan).
Brie: [Daniel] Bryan’s definitely the first muscular guy I’ve dated. I really missed out. He’s the first guy I’ve dated who’s been into athletics and working out, and it’s something that’s always been a part of me that I didn’t realize I’d enjoy so much—having my partner be like that.
Nikki: I have, but not as big. John [Cena] is definitely the King Kong of them all. I have to be with him forever, because where do you go from there? That’s as big as you get.
What are some must-have muscles on a man?
Brie: A big, strong, broad back. You don’t want women to have that. But when men do, it makes them seem powerful and dominant.
Nikki: Butt is No. 1. My man has the booty. No booty gets bigger than that.
Do you guys always work well together in the ring?
Brie: We work extremely well together because we’re twins! But we do have those moments when I feel like all of a sudden it’s going to turn and you’re going to see the tag team just go against each other. The one thing I like is that after a match, we’ll both go, “OK, we need to work on this and that.”
Nikki: We’re always in sync, but not on purpose—it’s just a twin thing. So even the way we’ll sometimes walk into the ring, it’s like the same foot movement.
What do you love and hate most about doing the Total Divas show?
Brie: It’s shown the differences of the Bella Twins. You’re able to see who we really are and how different we are and actually see that we’re not the kind of characters we are on WWE TV. We’re actually really humble, sweet girls.
Nikki: We’ve always been looked at as one [person], and I feel like Total Divas has made us more individual. I just have to say, the one thing I hate about it is the editing! But you have to embrace it. My boyfriend always says, “I know who you are, so don’t worry about it.”
Brie: You know what I hate? It should be more Bella Twins! There’s so much more fun stuff that the Bellas could be showing that we don’t.
