Bianca Belair opens up about her struggles with mental health issues
Bianca Belair has opened up about her struggles with mental health and eating disorders during her time in college as a track athlete.
Belair, who most recently defended her title against Becky Lynch at SummerSlam 2022, was a track and field athlete who competed in hurdles. After a year of college, she shifted from the University of South Carolina to Texas A&M. She was later signed by the Stamford-based promotion in 2016 and the rest is history.
The EST recently sat down for an interview with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport's YouTube channel, where she opened up about her battles with mental health issues.
During her first year in college, she suffered from an eating disorder, which resulted in her gaining 15 to 20 pounds. This all happened while Bianca was still pursuing a career on track, making her self-conscious in an environment where her coaches were very strict about body image. She said this about her struggles -
"It just wasn't a good place for me. I was put on depression medication, sleep medication. Where I just, mentally I just, I felt that wasn't a safe place for me at the moment." Bianca Belair said, "And I was hiding all of this from my friends and from my family. Nobody knew I was going through this really but my coach and at the time the doctor that was prescribing the medication. So I had all these feelings I wasn't able to communicate with anyone. And so, I just wanted to run away"
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The EST opened up about her battles with mental health and eating disorders:
"I was put into a psychiatric hospital, it got that low."
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Belair went on to discuss her time at Texas A&M University, where her struggles with mental health grew to the point where she was placed in a psychiatrist’s hospital. After her release, she opened up about her issues to her friends and family. This would open the road for her crossfit career before joining WWE.
Bianca Belair revealed that she sews her own outfits
During the same interview, Bianca Belair revealed that she sews her own gear and outfits.
Belair, who was brought into WWE via the recommendation of Hall of Famer Mark Henry, said that she sews all parts of her in-ring gear. She also stated that she has been sewing since she was in school.
"I have always sewn since I was a little girl. When I was a little girl, when I ran track. I used to design and make a lot of our outfits for the relay teams. When I did crossfit, I made all my outfits, which is what really got me discovered by Mark Henry, that's what really got me into WWE." said Bianca [12:12 to 12:33]
She would then go on to claim that sewing is an outlet for her to express her creativity, and it makes her feel calm and in control.
It is rare for WWE Superstars on the grandest stage to make their own gear. Most performers either outsource it to special designers and tailors, or take the help of in-company costume designers. Given how different and eye-catching her outfits tend to be, she does an incredible job in this department.