Sonya Deville Talks About Coming Out In The First Episode of Tough Enough

In an interview with Sky Sports, Sonya Deville spoke about coming out as gay during the first episode of the WWE’s most recent incarnation of Tough Enough. Here are highlights:

On how she came out: “During the preliminary taping of the first premiere episode, they asked me if I was in a relationship. I had a girlfriend at the time. Not only was I not expecting that question, I was in a bikini in high heels in front of Triple H and other WWE executives inside the ring! The other girls had spray tans and their extensions in, and they looked beautiful— and I was just like this MMA fighter chick. I felt so out of my comfort zone when they asked me that question. I thought ‘What do I do… well, tell the truth, right?’ So I said, ‘Yeah, I have a girlfriend, but she’s not my wife yet.’ I got nervous, and they all started smiling. I said, ‘Oh my god, I just came out on national television’. And Triple H replied, ‘Yeah you did!’ I just came back with, ‘Oh well, that’s that!'”

On Rainbow laces and helping others: “It’s so important to get those [the laces] to people on a public platform. As much as we don’t like to admit it sometimes, we are the influencers. Everything is social media nowadays, everything is sports and entertainment. So I think it’s awesome when people with such a big platform use it for such a positive message.”