When Total Divas premieres tomorrow for Season 7, Natalya will once again allow the WWE Universe behind the scenes. And that’s a bigger deal than you might think; The Queen of Harts has been a cast member on the E! reality show since its very first episode — one of only three Superstars to claim that honor — and the upcoming slate of episodes will showcase her run to the SmackDown Women’s Championship and the first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Natalya spoke with WWE about the season, dealing with Lana and the ever-increasing wealth of her cat.
WWE.COM: Congratulations on the new season. How does it feel?
NATALYA: Oh, thanks very much! It’s incredible to be going into our seventh season, and by the time the season finale happens, I’ll have been in 100 episodes of Total Divas. Which, to me, is crazy to think we’ve had the WWE Universe on this journey with us for 100 episodes, but it’s also a huge honor.
WWE.COM: You are one of the few Superstars who has been on the show the entire time without leaving for a season and coming back. How does it feel to be one of the veterans of the show?
NATALYA: I think it’s been, for me, a journey, to be on this show since day one. It’s so cool that I’ve been able to allow the audience to be on that journey with me, that roller coaster of life. And we’ve never, ever let cameras behind the scenes before like this. We’ve never done a reality show like this before. So, to be able to share with the world what it is that we do, what makes us laugh, what makes us cry, what drives us nuts, what gets on our nerves – being able to share that sisterhood with the girls is most important. My life in and out of the ring isn’t the five minutes you see me on SmackDown or Raw or WWE programming. There’s so much more. To get to work is a struggle sometimes. It’s planes, trains and automobiles; [the week of] Hurricane Irma we almost didn’t make it to SmackDown LIVE.
Total Divas allows us to document these journeys in and out of the ring and show you go through the heartaches and heartbreaks of life and the moments we come together like sisters. There are girls I love, but drive me crazy in the same breath. Like Lana. She’s really somebody that I’ve built a friendship with, but she’s like a sister. We have moments where we fight. I just came back from a tour of China with her, and in the same breath of me hugging her, I was ready to bodyslam her. And not in the ring. So, it’s really, really special. I’ve never once taken the show for granted, and to be on the show since the very beginning, I feel so honored that the WWE Universe and the upper brass and everybody that I work with can see me as somebody that people want to watch.
