Sonya Deville Admits She Never Planned to Come Out—It Just Happened

Sonya Deville never planned to come out on national television—it just happened.

In a recent interview on Talking With Natasha, Deville looked back on her Tough Enough days and how one unexpected question from Triple H led to her becoming WWE’s first openly gay female superstar.

“It was like a big accident. It’s a really funny story. It’s a happy accident,” Deville said, recalling the Tough Enough tryout where she was put on the spot. “Triple H asked, ‘Are you in a relationship? Are you single?’ It’s a pretty standard reality TV question, but for me, it was a loaded question because I had a girlfriend—and I wasn’t out at the time.”

Caught off guard, Deville blurted out, ‘I have a girlfriend, but she’s not my wife yet.’ That’s when Triple H started laughing and hit her with the realization: ‘Did you just come out on national television?’

Panic set in. Deville scrambled to call her then-girlfriend, knowing the secret was officially out—not just to the world, but to her girlfriend’s family, too. “She wasn’t even out to her parents,” Deville admitted. “Her mom was onto us, but we were trying to deny it to her. So I had to call her and be like, ‘I’m so sorry.’”

Looking back, Deville now sees the moment as fate. “It was meant to be that way. That was 10 years ago. So that’s my coming out.”

Life has a funny way of forcing the truth out when you least expect it, and for Sonya Deville, her Tough Enough moment became a defining chapter in her journey. What started as a nerve-wracking slip-up turned into a milestone that helped her embrace her true self on the biggest stage possible. Now, a decade later, she owns every bit of that moment—and WWE fans wouldn’t have it any other way.

Got thoughts on Sonya’s unexpected coming-out story? Sound off in the comments!