"I didn't leave my house for three weeks" - Billie Kay on her WWE release
Jessica McKay, formerly known as Billie Kay, says she did not leave her house for three weeks after receiving her release from WWE.
McKay and her former IIconics tag team partner, Cassie Lee (f.k.a. Peyton Royce), were let go by WWE on April 15. They spent six years of their careers in WWE, including three years performing on main-roster shows RAW and SmackDown.
Speaking on Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions podcast, McKay opened up about her reaction to her WWE departure.
“I was in the house,” McKay said. “I didn’t leave my house for like three weeks. I was just doing nothing. So it was just going out the house, going for a walk with my puppy, and talking to my friends and family, because after it happened I called Cass and I was like, ‘I can’t talk to anyone. My friends and family are calling me and I’m not answering on purpose.’
“Because I felt ashamed, I felt like I let everyone down. Everyone sacrificed so much for me to get here, and it was just over. It took me a long time to talk to everyone. Cass was the only one.”
As Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 35 in 2019. Another career highlight came at WWE Super Show-Down 2018 when they defeated Asuka and Naomi in their home country of Australia.
Jessica McKay/Billie Kay highlights one positive from her WWE release
Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee's friendship began a long time before they became Billie Kay and Peyton Royce in WWE.
McKay said she was happy to receive her release from WWE at the same time as Lee.
“I hate to say it but I’m so glad we got released together,” McKay added. “Because our journey has been together this whole time, but if one of us had got released and one of us hadn’t, that would have been 10 times worse, so I’m so glad that we can go through this together and really support each other through this time.”
Cassie Lee added that the first three weeks after her release from WWE were “so rough.” She said she has started to adapt to life post-WWE by scheduling her days and focusing on the future.
Please credit Oral Sessions and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.