Brie Bella and Nikki Bella are sticking together in these uncertain times!
The twin sisters revealed on this week’s episode of The Bellas Podcast that amid the coronavirus outbreak, they’ve been social distancing together since they’re both pregnant and live next door to each other. They didn’t wait for any sort of mandated shut-down, though—according to Brie, they’ve been “hibernating” for weeks just to be safe.
“So Nicole and I are health nuts, as you guys know. We always take everything very seriously, so when this virus started to outbreak in China in January…then how we saw how there was a couple of cases in, I think it was Seattle first. Then New York,” the soon-to-be mother of two explained. “Nicole and I immediately were freaked out, and we kind of started to think to ourselves, ‘oh no. This might be worse than what we’re thinking.'”
Nikki, who’s expecting her first child with fiancé Artem Chigvintsev, was particularly concerned about potential risks because she’s already gone through a health scare.
“For me, the beginning of my pregnancy in my first trimester, I got Influenza B. I have never been that sick before in my entire life,” she said. “I mean, it was worse than getting neck surgery, breaking my leg and getting a rod put into my shin…my body’s never gone through that pain of Influenza B. And being pregnant on top of it.”
The WWE star added that her worries extend not only to her sister, but pregnant women everywhere.
“I don’t deal with stress and anxiety well, so that’s why I meditate a lot and do certain things because one, I don’t want my baby to feel what I’m feeling,” Nikki said. “I’m trying everything I can for my baby not to feel all this anxiety and stress.”
Luckily, Nikki and Brie—who are 20 weeks and 22 weeks along, respectively—were recently able to visit an OBGYN together, and they learned that both of their babies are healthy.
The sisters are otherwise trying to stick to a routine to maintain a sense of normalcy. For example, every day and night, the two have gotten together with Artem, Brie’s husband Daniel Bryan and their daughter Birdie to have breakfast and dinner.
“We definitely are like, okay, as a team, let’s all make this a positive because it’s a very scary time because we have no idea what’s to come,” Brie said.
Daniel, however, recently had to take a work trip to Orlando, Florida—and when he returns this week, he won’t get to reunite with Brie and Birdie right away. Instead, he plans to stay in a hotel for two weeks while being monitored for any COVID-19 symptoms.
“I’m grateful my husband is still employed, but at the same time, I’m just scared he’s out there,” Brie explained.
Nikki revealed that she and Artem are suffering from work-related stress as well. According to her, after the professional dancer was cut from Dancing with the Stars, he took a coaching job that he was unable to finish amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“He wasn’t even halfway through and he lost all that, and they don’t get paid for whatever’s been lost. So he’s back to being unemployed as well,” Nikki said. “So I know the pain that a lot of people are feeling. I see the pain that he goes through. Then also we’re pregnant; We’re bringing a baby into this world so it brings a lot of stress of like, okay, we have one income now but we have two homes…It’s just, I feel for everyone when it comes to the jobs because that is scary.”
Brie explained that they feel a particular sense of compassion for those in the service industry.
“Nicole and I were waitresses. We lived paycheck-to-paycheck; We lived off our tips,” she added. “I feel for the whole restaurant and bar industry because I was there…I just pray that there’s gonna be some good things to come out of it.”
For now, the two are donating to various organizations and encouraging those who can’t to simply be there for others.
“In these times, we have to band together. We have to try and find the beauty in it. I haven’t lost anyone yet to this virus, but there are thousands and thousands of people out there who have. And I pray for them every day. And I hope I never do,” Nikki said. “That’s why it’s so important that we spread the word on everyone staying at home and social distancing. Because we have to protect not only our elderly and our pregnant women, but there are people of all ages that fight auto-immune diseases or that have asthma. And you just don’t know how your body can handle a virus.”
Brie encouraged their listeners to take the advice of Total Divas‘ Trinity, who’s known for her words of encouragement, “Push through, sis!”
Total Bellas returns Thursday, Apr. 2 at 9 p.m., only on E!
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