Nikki Bella Explains Wearing John Cena Wedding Dress to Say ‘I Do’ to Artem Chigvintsev

usmagazine.com:

Her wedding, her rules! Nikki Bella shocked her family — and the world — when she revealed one of the dresses she wore to marry Artem Chigvintsev was a gown she initially bought when she was engaged to John Cena.“I had the moment with that dress … when I saw it,” Bella, 39, told Us Weekly exclusively ahead of her wedding special, Nikki Bella Says I Do, which premieres on Thursday, January 26. “It was all something that I dreamed of.”The Incomparable author explained that the dress gave her the feeling of “empowerment,” prompting her to hold onto the garb even after she and Cena, 45, went their separate ways.“I went back and forth with that decision,” the TV personality said of her choice to don the gown when she wed Chigvintsev in Paris in August 2022. “For me, it [reflects] how I stand as a strong woman, I was like wait, why should I not wear what I love?

Because of my past? It just didn’t make sense to me.”While the reality star’s sister Brie Bella disagreed with the decision, Nikki asserted that she’d only change her mind if Chigvintsev, 40, had “an issue with it.” To Nikki’s surprise, the professional dancer was “cool about it.”“He looks at it as just a material thing,” the wrestler told Us. “He probably wanted me to save money but then didn’t realize I bought a few other dresses after,” she joked.Chigvintsev shared his perspective, telling Us that he “dismissed” the question from the beginning and wasn’t bothered by the history of the gown. “I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal for people to react how I reacted … I think [if there’s] an issue with it, they’re bringing some other energy into our happiness.”He added: “Why would we want to even waste time talking about it … It did not bother me at all.”