After Nikki Bella revealed that she was the victim of rape twice in high school, she shared with HL EXCLUSIVELY why she knew she had to share the difficult stories with her fans.
In Nikki Bella and Brie Bella’s memoir, Incomparable, Nikki opened up about being raped by two different guys when she was 15 years old. She told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that this was the hardest part of the book for her to write and talk about with her family. However, she said she was inspired by her fans to share the “tragic” stories. “We’ve become so close with [the Bella Army], and so intimate,” Nikki explained. “When the Me Too movement also came out, it gave me the strength and courage [to know] that people need to hear these stories. There are going to be women like me that hold onto it for 20 years with all this blame and guilt and shame, and, honestly, I don’t want the girls that follow me and look up to me [to have that] if it happens to them. I don’t want them to hold onto it like I have.”
She added that, when she was younger, women weren’t openly talking about things like rape and sexual assault, which is why she kept her stories on the subject hidden for so long. “That’s what I find so beautiful about the Me Too movement,” she admitted. “It gives so many of us, especially our younger generation, a voice and somewhere to reach out for help.” Nikki also revealed that she found it “very emotional” to see her name next to the word ‘rape’ in headlines when the book first came out on May 5. “It was definitely emotionally exhausting for me because I was battling so much,” she shared. ‘but I am also so happy now that it’s out and hopefully I’ll make a difference.”
At the end of the day, Nikki and Brie both knew that they had to be as raw and open as possible when writing the memoir. “We truly did want [people to close the book] and take something away from it,” Nikki explained. “If you were a victim of something, that you were going to find the strength to become a survivor, that you were going to become a hero of your own story. And that’s the feedback we’ve been getting, which has been so amazing.”
Earlier this week, Incomparable landed on the New York Times Best Sellers list. The book is currently available to buy or download. Nikki and Brie’s hit reality show, Total Bellas, airs on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. ET on E!