John Cena Says His Heart Hurts For Nikki Bella Following Split

This December, John Cena stars in Bumblebee, a spinoff of the popular Transformers movie franchise. Cena was in Las Vegas on Wednesday night to promote the film at CinemaCon and commented on his recent split with ex-fiancee Nikki Bella.

In a conversation with E! News, Cena quoted Walt Whitman’s poem O Me! O Life! in describing how breakups are unfortunately a part of life.

“‘The powerful play goes on and you get to contribute a verse.’ I love that Whitman quote. Life is sometimes tough, but it’s life and it goes on. Nicole knows I love her and I miss her, but that is what it is. And I’m still here, still going—and I choose to go.”

Cena said it’s hard to conceptualize the heartbreak he’s felt as their relationship came to an end. “When you love somebody, it stings. That’s why musicians write about it. That’s why poets write about it. If anything, just try to take away what went wrong and enjoy the good times you had with the person that you love.”

The breakup of John Cena and Nikki Bella is being promoted as one of the main storylines for the upcoming season of Total Bellas. According to the Wrestling Observer, the breakup that was filmed for the show was actually resolved three days later, so the relationship was on-and-off in the final months before they ultimately called it quits.

Total Bellas returns to the E! Network on May 20th.