The beloved twins are stepping back from their hit show.
The upcoming season of Total Divas is losing some of its biggest stars.
Brie and Nikki Bella, the twin sisters who helped make the reality show a hit, announced that they have decided not to return for season nine of the E! show.
The pair broke the news on the latest episode of The Bellas Podcast, where they shared their reasoning behind the difficult decision to step away from the series.
"Nikki and I realized this year that it is time to say goodbye to Total Divas," Brie announced.
"Brie and I have been with the franchise from the beginning and have literally put our hearts and souls and our lives on TV," Nikki added. "[We wanted to] help make it into a big franchise, to help make it a success, to truly change people's minds about women in wrestling and how much women in the wrestling industry do in and out of the ring."
The duo explained that, with the addition of their spinoff series, Total Bellas, their schedule took a serious toll.
"We filmed all year long," Nikki said. "When other people would get breaks from the reality cameras, Brie and I would be filming the next season of Bellas and then we’d go straight into Divas."
Brie also explained that being a mother (she has a 1-year-old daughter, Birdie Joe Danielson, with husband and fellow pro wrestler Daniel Bryan) played a big role in their decision to not return for season 9.
"I don’t want Birdie to grow up in front of the cameras," she explained. "I don’t want her to think that it’s a normal life."
Nikki also lamented going through her highly publicized breakup with John Cena on Total Bellas, admitting that they were especially "hard times" and contributed to their decision.
"With my breakup, that just showed me that when you have hard times and life and you keep filming, it’s just really hard on someone mentally," she stated. "We had to let go of one show just to keep sanity."
"We have to live our lives twice," she continued. "When you have that bad moment in your life, you have to realize the bad. I know for me, that was exhausting, living my life twice."
However, the siblings made it clear that they intend to stay busy going forward.
"We are no longer on Total Divas," Nikki reiterated. "We will now be focusing on just Total Bellas and the Bellas Podcast, as well as other things going on in our lives."
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