"I didn't understand how to take care of myself"- Kaitlyn opens up about how she struggled with body dysmorphia

Former WWE Superstar Kaitlyn (real name Celeste Bonin) recently expressed how she struggled with body dysmorphia after replacing fitness competitions with wrestling.

Bonin made her body fitness career debut in 2006, and by 2010, she was signed to WWE. During her tenure, she shared the ring with the likes of Natalya, Tamina Snuka, and Eve Torres. She became the WWE Divas Champion, reigning for 153 days before being defeated by AJ Lee.

Appearing on The Sessions with Renee Paquette, Kaitlyn expressed how she developed body dysmorphia after replacing fitness competitions with pro wrestling.

"I can see this now to me it [the business] was just replacing wrestling, and wrestling was replacing fitness and competing. So like my only relevance, I felt growing up like in my teen years, especially, I started to find my identity in being really muscular and strong. So I started working out a lot and I competed as soon as I got out of high school and that became my identity... so when I started doing that, I had some success. Then immediately after the first couple of shows I did I started having like really f****d up body dysmorphia and didn't I didn't understand nutrition, I didn't understand how to take care of myself." (H/T Fightful)

The former Divas Champion quit WWE in January 2014 to return to the fitness industry. However, she briefly returned to participate in the Mae Young Classic Tournament in 2018.

Kaitlyn and her journey to self-discovery

After she departed from the company, Kaitlyn stated that seeing anything about pro wrestling was a struggle. This was why she didn't participate for four years and only made an appearance during the tournament.

"Any time that I’d do an appearance or a signing or something or talk about wrestling, I’d have these feelings that I didn’t know how to process and I didn’t know how to not have them, essentially. Everything I looked at in wrestling, the painful sh*t and the things I went through and was struggling with during my time there. Also, the really profoundly beautiful things, all the opportunities, the travel, the connections, the love available to me from fans and my peers, and the deep connections that I made all of it showed me and reflected to me things that already existed in me, pain that already existed in me.”

Right after the tournament, Bonin returned to pro wrestling, competing on the independent circuit. She is the current Slamforce Women's Champion.

It is great to see the former Divas Champion back in the squared circle, overcoming her struggles. Throughout the years, fans have witnessed many stars return to the company and be even more successful than their initial run. Do you think Bonin will follow the same path? Sound off in the comments below.