4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella breaks silence on awkward moment as fan holds her from behind for photo: 'When I saw it…'
WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella, part of the famous tag team the Bella Twins, opened up about a viral image with a fan that got the internet talking. Fan meet-and-greets are common in WWE, but what stood out here was the unusual and awkward pose requested by a fan named Brian Lema. Lema held Bella from behind and shared the picture on his Instagram. While it was done with the full consent of the WWE superstar, the outcome was rather uncomfortable to the eye. Nikki Bella, with a fan, Brian Lema(Brian Lema/Instagram)
Addressing the controversial picture, Bella clarified she saw nothing inappropriate but took a firm stance that the 'prom pose' will be banned in future interactions.
"Well, I do feel like from now on, there's going to have to be a no prom pose rule. After this photo, but I will say he had an incredible story. He asked very politely about doing a prom photo. I've done it a bunch. You guys, I didn't feel anything. It wasn't like, it never felt inappropriate. It didn't feel like what the photo looks like," she said on her podcast.
"I think that was his posture, but maybe I think I feel like it was his posture, and those pants of mine were kind of baggy. They kind of stuck out, so you know how sometimes photos get distorted? I honestly feel like that's what happened. Because I would be honest and I would literally go straight to my rep like, 'Hey, that was really inappropriate. I felt stuff.'"
'It didn't feel inappropriate'
This isn't the first time a prom pose picture has roughed the internet up the wrong way. In 2019, during the lead-up to WrestleMania 35, another WWE athlete, Becky Lynch, aka Rebecca Quinn, found herself in a similar social media storm when a fan held her from behind for the exact post. As for Nikki, real name Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace, her decision to agree to the pose stemmed from her admiration for the fan, who followed their entire careers, and called the Bella Twins an inspiration.
"I didn't have that at all, and he was actually, I mean, unless I'm getting played, but he had a very, very sweet story. He has watched us, Brie, from day one. He was very sweet, so I won't even comment on it. I know because I saw the page where it had like, I think, what? Like a thousand comments and I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm not even going to get involved in this."
"But I will admit when I saw the photo, I had to go back and be like, 'Did I ever feel like I was treated inappropriately? Did I feel anything?' But I would have spoken up, and so that photo is more kind of distorted than it actually was, and that can kind of happen. And I feel like now, after that, lesson learned because I do prom photos a lot with people. I'm just, now that's going to be a no. It's going to be a no."
