WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella has been synonymous with reality television ever since the first season of Total Divas on the E! Network. But in a new edition of The Bellas Podcast, she revealed that she almost won the hosting jobs for two separate series — Love Island USA on CBS and Ex On The Beach on MTV. She lost the former when the network chose to go with Arielle Vandenberg instead, and was pulled from the latter for undisclosed reasons.
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“I auditioned to be the host for Love Island USA, that’s how I got hooked on Love Island UK,” Bella said (h/t Fightful). “When I had the audition, I had to get familiar with the show. I got hooked and it made me really want [the role]. When I auditioned, I got a callback and I was really bummed because I was the runner up. Arielle Vandenberg, she’s the current host. If she would’ve said no, I would’ve been the host,”
“After I lost the job for Love Island USA, which I was really upset about, I got another audition to host Ex on the Beach on MTV. I got it. This was my heaven,” she added. “I booked the gig and I was so excited. I couldn’t believe I was going to be the new host of Ex on the Beach. Two days before I was leaving — I’m not going to say names — I was pulled. Mainly dealt with the reality show I was on. I was so upset.”
Nikki and Brie were officially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this year, then made a surprise appearance during Night Two of WrestleMania 37. The pair talked about their speeches during a recent podcast episode.
“We had a speech written, but then we realized it was too long because we’re only allowed to do our speech for three to five minutes. We wrote a 15-minute speech because usually, they are like ’10 to 15 minutes,’ then we found out they were like, ‘No, it has to be three to five minutes.’ To do your Hall of Fame speech and take out that much stuff is really hard,” Brie said. “We’re wondering like, ‘How do we condense this. What’s important? We want to thank all these people and tell stories.’”
“We’ve always been grateful women and that’s where it’s difficult,” Nikki aded. “The majority of our speech is thanking people and they’re like, ‘talk more about yourself.’ We’ve already proven ourselves as Hall of Famers. It’s almost like winning an Oscar. You’re thanking the people who helped you get there.”
