From a very early age, I realized why I was put on this planet: to fight.
— Sonya Deville
Don't be afraid. Don't be ashamed. Don't ever apologize for your sexuality. Just be you.
I am an entertainer and I am an athlete, and WWE is the biggest performance-based show in the world.
My MMA background, I think, only enhances my experience on 'Tough Enough' or in the WWE in general.
I've always been athletic my entire life and loved sports.
I think WWE superstars and Divas are here to change lives. That's why they do what they do. They want to make an impact on the world.
My first time being inside the Performance Center was for the WWE Tough Enough tryouts, and although I knew hardly anything about sports-entertainment, I knew I wanted to be a part of this place.
It's insane how many fans I have from the LGBTQ+ community. I would say the majority of my fanbase are young, gay women.
I just think I'm very honest and I say how I feel. Some people like that about me. Some people hate that about me.
I had so much fun in the 'Tough Enough' barracks.
I started training at a local gym in New Jersey, and the day of my high school graduation, I packed up everything in my car and moved to Coconut Creek, Florida, where I trained with one of the best gyms in the world, American Top Team.
Let's just say my phone blew up when I came out on global television. The only people that knew were my immediate family members and my closest friends, maybe like three of them. So you can imagine how many texts and emails and Facebook messages that I got after coming out, most of which were very supportive from the LGBT community.
It's not a good feeling to hide a huge part of your life. If you were meant to be somebody else, you'd be somebody else, so don't change who you are.
With any minority group, it takes a strong presence in the public eye to make a change because everything nowadays is social media.
I'm an athlete. I'm a performer. Why the hell did I never think of combining the two?
A good friend of mine, Maria Menounos, she's kind of like a mentor to me. She dabbled in WWE and pro wrestling, and she said 'This is the perfect opportunity for you.' Once I started doing my research about the competition and the company, I fell in love with WWE even more.
I really want to utilize my MMA knowledge in my WWE performance.
I'm a very passionate person. I'm Italian, it's in my blood so when I care about something, I get emotional.
