Sonya Deville Backs Rainbow Laces, Talks Coming Out On TV

SmackDown Superstar Sonya Deville recently spoke with Sky Sports about her support of the Rainbow Laces campaign in the United Kingdom that advocates for the inclusion of gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender athletes in sports, and her experiences in coming out on national TV during an episode of WWE’s reality show Tough Enough.
Here’s what the 25-year-old New Jersey native, whose real name is Daria Berenato, had to say to Sky Sports about what as you might expect was an intimidating time on Tough Enough when she came out to the world:
“Mandy (Rose) and I were both on the show,” she explains to Sky Sports. “During the preliminary taping of the first premiere episode, they asked me if I was in a relationship. I had a girlfriend at the time.

Not only was I not expecting that question, I was in a bikini in high heels in front of Triple H and other WWE executives inside the ring! The other girls had spray tans and their extensions in, and they looked beautiful – and I was just like this MMA fighter chick. I felt so out of my comfort zone when they asked me that question.

I thought ‘what do I do… well, tell the truth, right?’ So I said, ‘yeah, I have a girlfriend, but she’s not my wife yet’.

I got nervous, and they all started smiling. I said, ‘oh my god, I just came out on national television’. And Triple H replied, ‘yeah you did!’ I just came back with, ‘oh well, that’s that!’

It was one of those spontaneous moments. It truly wasn’t planned, but I’m so grateful that it happened because after that, it not only gave me a new realisation of what it means to be open and true to myself, but I feel like it helped me inspire other people.

“If you’re scared to do it, my advice would be ‘do it’, because it was the best thing that ever happened. I’m not saying there’s not going to be trials and tribulations along the way, but in the end, the best life you can live is the life where you’re true to yourself.”
During the interview, Sky Sports presented Deville with a pair of rainbow laces to honor her support for the Rainbow Laces campain and here’s what she told them about the initiative:
“It’s so important to get those [the laces] to people on a public platform,” she added. “As much as we don’t like to admit it sometimes, we are the influencers.

Everything is social media nowadays, everything is sports and entertainment. So I think it’s awesome when people with such a big platform use it for such a positive message.”

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You can watch highlights from Deville’s last televised match from this week’s SmackDown when she teamed with Mandy Rose to take on Asuka and Naomi in this video below: