Carmella has tagged in for Total Divas season nine and isn’t afraid to share her truth.
As fans surely know, the WWE superstar’s personal life was thrust into the spotlight during Tuesday night’s episode. Specifically, Carmella was pegged as a homewrecker after boyfriend Corey Graves‘ estranged wife made infidelity claims on social media.
Although the claims were unfounded, Carmella still faced quite a bit of backlash, including death threats.
“At that time, I was really trying to stay away from social media. It was so hard,” Carmella exclusively told E! News on Wednesday. “If there’s anything I learned from it it’s that, at the end of the day, I know who I am and I know my truth. My friends and family know the real me.”
And while this drama wasn’t a pleasurable experience at the time, Carmella appears grateful that her side of the story was shared on Total Divas. In fact, some detractors have even offered up apologies.
“I got such a crazy amount of love and support from the WWE universe and the E! audience last night, even today. It’s still pouring over,” Carmella, who was born Leah Van Dale, added. “So many people are supportive and even some people are taking back the negative things that they said when they first found out the situation. You know, they didn’t know the whole truth.”
Of course, this wasn’t the only drama Carmella faced while filming Total Divas. In the season nine premiere, Nia Jax unexpectedly confronted Carmella for an alleged lack of “genuineness.”
Per Carmella, she was left so baffled by this confrontation as she didn’t expect it one bit.
“Nia and I have never been the best of friends, but from what I’ve felt we’ve never really had like a big falling out or anything like that,” the SmackDown wrestler further reflected. “I was so thrown off, I think you can tell in my face. I’ve never been called fake. I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, but never a fake person.”
As for where she stands now with Jax? Carmella revealed that answer will be shared later on in season nine.
Despite the drama, Carmella is staying positive, especially when it comes to her career. Between women having the main event at WrestleMania 35 and Evolution (the all-women’s pay-per-view event), it’s certainly been a historic time for women in the WWE.
Is this a sign of a new normal within the wrestling industry? Carmella sure seemed to think so.
“We’ve done all of these firsts,” the first Ms. Money in the Bank relayed. “Now we just have to keep this momentum. It’s now at a point where I feel like it’s not a big deal that women are doing these things. It’s just equal.”
We can definitely get behind that notion!
For more of Carmella, be sure to catch Tuesday’s all-new Total Divas.
Watch a brand new episode of Total Divas Tuesday at 10 p.m., only on E!