John Cena, 44, has seemingly changed his tune on becoming a father. The Fast & Furious 9 star opened up about possibly having kids with his wife Shay Shariatzadeh, 31, in a new interview. “I’m a little bit older, a bit wiser. I’m realizing there is life and life exists and it’s beautiful — and I think part of that is being a parent, so we’ll see,” he confessed in a new interview with British outlet The Sun.
The wrestling star tied the knot with the tech manager in 2020 after several months of dating. John originally met the Canadian beauty in her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia while working on the film Playing With Fire. Before making their red carpet debut for the film in Oct. 2019, the pair were spotted out-and-about in Vancouver holding hands, as well as enjoying an outdoor dinner date. The two married in Florida without announcing an engagement, and have since spotted together in both Los Angeles and Vancouver.
Not wanting kids was was a primary reason for John’s split with his ex-fiancée Nikki Bella, 37. While the Massachusetts native agreed to reverse his vasectomy for the Total Bellas star, Nikki later admitted she didn’t want to “force” him into having kids. “Even in the end when he was willing to give me kids, I could just tell, it’s not what we wanted,” she reflected in an interview with People. Nikki and John were an item for six years before their surprising 2018 split, ending a one-year engagement.
“And that’s really what pushed me in the end…like, if I’m going to force someone to be a father… what if he looks at you down the road and just regrets everything, and then you have this child and you’ve built this life. Is that what you want? And I remember thinking, ‘It’s not what I want’,” she also said in the May 2020 interview. Nikki went on to welcome her first child, Matteo, 11 months, with now fiancée Artem Chigvintsev, 39.