Most people would steer clear of the hard-hitting questions on a first date, but John Cena went full steam ahead. And clearly, it paid off.
The wrestling star recalled in an interview on podcast Club Shay Shay how he approached the topic of children and his lack of interest in parenthood with his now-wife Shay Shariatzadeh.
Watch the video above
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“I opened with a few uncomfortable conversations,” he shared. “Those were first or second date questions with my now-wife.”
He called the direct approach “great because we both got to lean into these uncomfortable moments, address this stuff and build a foundation.”
Due to this, “nothing is off the table” between the couple, who he says try to resolve any disagreements that come up right then and there.
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“Nothing is too uncomfortable to be unapproachable,” he said. “Starting off with the conversation about ‘Hey where do you see family life?’ and ‘What is the definition of our family?’ and ‘What brings you joy?’ and ‘Is this a bucket that you need to fill?’; those conversations have helped – me, at least personally, and her – forge a path together as a team.”
The couple have been married for four years, having tied the knot at an attorney’s office in Florida in October 12, 2020. They later held a ceremony in July 2022 in Vancouver, Canada.
Shariatzadeh is an Iranian-born engineer who is a former program manager at Microsoft, previously working at Sonatype and Motorola Solutions.
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The two met at a restaurant in Vancouver, with Cena recalling that his wife and her friends had asked for a picture as he was watching the SuperBowl.
But to their surprise, after the picture, Cena was so enamoured with Shariatzadeh that he turned around and asked for her number.
“So I got a picture with her, and then she brought by my wife-to-be over, we have our first fan photo, which we hang proudly where we hang our hats. It’s awesome,” he recalled on The Howard Stern show.
“I asked her for her number and she gave me her number, and I didn’t wait like the two days [to reach out]. I left the restaurant and on my walk home I [texted], ‘It was so nice to meet you, you’re beautiful, I’d like to get to know you more if you have any free time coming up I’ll make time for you.’
“She’s like, ‘You want to go out this weekend?’ I said, ‘Sure.'”
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