Nikki Garcia has a run-in with her former fiancé, John Cena, and it wasn’t a bad experience.
In March 2025, the WWE star turned “Dancing with the Stars” competitor told “Let’s Be Honest” podcast host Kristin Cavallari that she ran into her ex for the first time in “seven or eight years” after returning to the WWE for the 2025 Royal Rumble.
“It was very quick,” Garcia told Cavallari of her reunion with Cena in February 2025, per People. “I was in a circle talking to people. He came to [shake] everyone’s hand. He shook my hand. When he walked away, all the girls were like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I’m like, ‘Shh, shh, he’s married, be respectful.’ And that was it.”
“It was great because [we were] breaking the ice, and we both happened to be back at [WWE] at the same time. It’s a good feeling,” Garcia added of the “nice” exchange.
The mom of one said, “next question” when Cavallari joked that fans want to see her and Cena get back together.
Garcia had a six-year relationship with Cena, which ended in 2018.
Nikki Bella Knew She Had to End Things With John Cena
When Garcia competed on DWTS in 2017, she was engaged to Cena. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she explained why she knew in her heart she needed to end things with Cena because he felt she needed to live “a different life.”
“I kept praying so hard and then I just got this feeling so deep in my gut of, like, ‘I need to walk away.’ And no one thought I would, but it was hitting me so hard,” she shared. “I just knew that I didn’t want to bring a child into a relationship that I didn’t know if this life was right for them and I went with it, and then Artem [Chigvintsev] came waltzing into my life,” she added of her DWTS partner, who would eventually become her husband.
Garcia admitted it was hard to walk away from Cena because she did still love him. She broke up with Cena in mid-2018 and went public with Chigvintsev one year later. The DWTS partners were engaged by the end of 2019 and welcomed their son, Matteo, in July 2020.
Cena married Shay Shariatzadeh in a secret wedding in October 2020, per Us Weekly.
Garcia and Chigvintsev wed in 2022 but split in 2024 following a domestic dispute. Their divorce was finalized in November 2024.
Nikki Garcia Doesn’t Want to Get Married Again
Elsewhere on “Let’s Be Honest,” Garcia said she is open to “love and not marriage” at this stage of her life. “I mean, [marriage is] so hard,” she said, according to People. “At night, [I] think about it, though. This is crazy, like, it was supposed to be an act of love and now I’m in prison.”
She added, “I’m definitely open to love for sure.”
Garcia is not open to having more children. In January, she told Us Weekly, “I definitely do not want more kids. I am fine.” The WWE star explained, “Just being 41, and I feel like I’m back to being myself finally. I’m just getting out of the toddler years, and I don’t want to go back.”
