WrestlingFigs > Wrestling News Posts > SONYA DEVILLE TALKS HER NEW FASHION LINE, COMING OUT ON TV, WWE DURING COVID-19, MORE
SONYA DEVILLE TALKS HER NEW FASHION LINE, COMING OUT ON TV, WWE DURING COVID-19, MORE
  • 03/20/2020 (5:04:18 pm)
  • Bob Mulrenin
For 26-year-old Daria Berenato, professional wrestling is the ultimate blend of her passions.

Known in the ring as Sonya Deville, New Jersey native Berenato always had the spirit of a fighter and a performer inside her. She started mixed martial arts training when she was 16, but also found herself bitten by the acting bug.
“My dream was to fight professionally,” said Berenato. “I moved around a lot for that, but ultimately ended up in Los Angeles because I love to act.”
While in California, Berenato had her first three amateur fights and landed a gig hosting a podcast owned by Maria Menounos and her husband Keven Undergaro. After Menounos came to one of Berenato’s fights, it was Menounos who gave Berenato the idea to audition for “Tough Enough,” a reality competition show that put 11,000 girls up for 13 spots in the WWE.
“[Menounos] told me, ‘You can’t do this forever, have you considered professional wrestling?’” said Berenato. “I love to fight and I love to perform, and when I auditioned for ‘Tough Enough’ I fell in love with wrestling.”
In June 2015, Berenato auditioned for “Tough Enough,” where she was ultimately eliminated third. However, she was signed to the WWE in October that same year, and ultimately met her tag team partner Mandy Rose on the show.
However, one thing she didn’t expect to do while on “Tough Enough” was to come out as gay.
“It wasn’t intentional. No one really knew before that besides my family,” said Berenato. “It was a crazy process of saying “I’m gay’ for the first time on TV and not knowing if it was a bad thing or a positive thing.”
Berenato ultimately learned that this indeed would be a positive thing not just for her fans, but for her as well.
“It was one of the best things that happened for me,” said Berenato. “Coming out forced me to start living my reality and accepting myself for who I was, which I wasn’t really doing before. It was cool to share that journey with my fans.”
“I also get to share with my fans that it’s okay to be whoever you are,” Berenato added.
Since her time on “Tough Enough,” Berenato has wrestled for NXT, Raw and SmackDown as the first openly gay woman in the WWE. She developed a strong friendship with her tag team partner Mandy Rose, both in and out of the ring – during their time on the WWE, the duo formed a weekly show specifically about the donuts they find while on the road for work.
Tags: Sonya DeVille, wwe,

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