Maria Kanellis Looks Back At Playboy Shoot, Says She Made More Than In WWE

Maria Kanellis recounted how her Playboy pictorial in 2008 was pitched to her, noting she made more money than she made in WWE. The WWE alumna did a pictorial for the men’s magazine in early 2008, which was incorporated into a storyline leading into WrestleMania 24.

Kanellis looked back at the experience in her appearance on Insight With Chris Van Vliet. She confirmed she was not the first choice for the year and said she enjoyed doing it, while adding she still loves that she did it. You can check out the highlights below:

On Marella Trying to Stop the Cover Reveal:

“I asked if we could kind of have it be this women’s empowerment, and they went with it. I’m so thankful that we were able to all get in the ring together and have that moment of everybody picking on Santino; it was fun.”

On How The Offer Came About:

“I was not the first choice. I think I might have been third or fourth… There might have been two or three before me, which is fine. I enjoyed doing it. It was so much fun. I had to call my sister, though, because she was still in high school, and be like, ‘Hey, so they asked me to do Playboy. Are you okay with that?’ She’s like, ‘How much are they paying you?’ Then she was fine with it.”

On If It Was More Than She Was Making In WWE:

“Yes. One shoot, more than the year. But it was a different time. That was what we were fighting for at the time. There was such a discrepancy, and everybody knew that there was a discrepancy, and luckily that’s changed. It took time, but it also ended up being a very good story and a very, very big motivator in my life.”

On What Made Her Say Yes When Others Said No:

“I liked modeling, and to me, it was just an extension of that. I can look back on those photos when I’m 80 years old and go, ‘Wow, look at that bod!’ I think it was just fun. It’s just fun. I’ve never been taken care of so well as I was when I was on that shoot. It didn’t feel like it was anything salacious. It just felt like another editorial shoot.”

On How She Views the Photos Now:

“I love it. I’m not looking forward to my kids being asked about it, but I love that I did it.”

On Whether Her Kids Know:

“They don’t know I pose for Playboy. My daughter’s eight, so she’s just now getting to the age that she might have reference. But they don’t do Safari or Google. They’re not on social media. They won’t be on social media for a long, long time. They won’t have their own cell phones for a long, long time. So in that sense, no. Will somebody bring it up to him at school? Probably at some point, and then we’ll have that conversation.”

On What That Conversation Will Be Like:

“I think it looks like your mom is incredibly proud of what she was able to accomplish in her career, and I don’t think that you should ever be ashamed about your body, as long as you’re not hurting yourself or hurting anybody else, and you’re of age, you should be able to do what you want. I think that’s real feminism, is being able to accept if somebody wants to run a company or if somebody wants to pose for Playboy, if somebody wants to be an influencer, or if they want to be a doctor. I think really at the end of the day, people should be able to do what they want.”

On Getting Mainstream Fame At That Point:

“I was [still a Diva], and right at the end, it was before we filmed the finale for Celebrity Apprentice is when I get the call from WWE that says we’re not going to renew your contract. It was the day after my birthday, and I went okay, and then I filmed the finale for Celebrity Apprentice, and then I was off on my own.”