WWE's Carmella Talks 'Difficult Journey' Through Ectopic Pregnancy and Return to Wrestling

Carmella appeared on WWE's After the Bell podcast, where she discussed the physical and emotional process of returning to wrestling after a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy

Corey Graves and Carmella on the "After the Bell" Podcast. Photo: WWE's "After the Bell" Podcast

WWE star Carmella is opening up about her experiences with pregnancy loss.

Carmella (real name Leah Van Dale) appeared on WWE's After the Bell podcast, hosted by Kevin Patrick and her husband, Monday Night RAW commentator Corey Graves, where she talked about what's been happening with her fertility and health in the seven months she's spent away from wrestling.

"So I was dealing with an ectopic pregnancy, which means the pregnancy was not viable, couldn't move forward with it. And it's actually something you and I were both were learning together," she said to Graves, continuing, "that it's something very dangerous. It's something that a lot of women don't make it through, so I feel very fortunate."

Graves added, "I had no idea — as your husband, as your partner, this was my pregnancy as well — and I didn't realize the magnitude of what that is."

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Carmella explained that she started to feel unwell and asked Graves to take her to the emergency room.

"And I'm not proud of this now, but she asked me to take her to the emergency room and I went, 'Well, why?'"

Graves explained regretting it after, noting he just didn't understand the magnitude of what was happening at the time.

"It was so difficult because once it happened, I'm in the emergency room, and I actually have to take an ambulance to another emergency room for them to diagnose exactly what had happened. And once I realized it was, in fact, an ectopic pregnancy — which, not to get super technical, it's in your fallopian tube, not in your uterus — so at any point it can explode and you can bleed to death, which is insane to think about."

Graves — who is already dad to daughters Lola Polinsky and Lenny Paige and son Cash with ex Amy Polinsky — chimed in, "Don't gloss over that. This is what really rocked me."

"This is when I went, 'Oh my god, I need to be a better partner. I need to be more supportive,'" he continued. "I didn't realize. I thought it was something you need to get fixed, and you may need surgery or something, or something that your body just recovers from. When I found out you could have died from that, it rocked my world."

Carmella went on to detail how difficult it was dealing with the seriousness of things medically while also emotionally grappling with pregnancy loss.

"It was a double whammy. I just think through all of that, we made it through. I'm so, so grateful. I'm not trying to gloss over any of this. I was in a deep depression for a while, it was really hard. I felt it was necessary for me to share my story because I felt — even though I had you, even though I had my family, I never felt so alone," she admitted.

Carmella said she felt gratitude for how women came out and shared their support and stories with her after she publicly shared her news for the first time in October.

"Women don't talk about these things. You talk about you're pregnant, you think you're pregnant, you're having a baby, and that's it. I was excited to have a baby, and then it's all taken away."

"It was just a very difficult time. It felt like my return was so up in the air," she explained. "Am I ever going to go back to work? Am I ever going to feel okay? Am I ever going to feel food enough to get off this damn couch and put some makeup on my face and feel good about myself? Luckily we're here, we're on the other side, but it was definitely a difficult journey."

Carmella explained the physical recovery was tough and led her to question whether it was "worth it" to return to wrestling.

"I just wasn't sure what that journey back to the ring would look like," she admitted, explaining she hadn't been able to keep her fitness routine for months.

"Would I even be able to get my body back to where I needed to be? I wasn't quite sure what it would look like to get back to WWE. Are people going to remember me? Are people going to want to see me back? What does that journey look like? And now looking back, I wouldn't have changed a thing. It really helped me take the time I needed to mentally and physically to get back to peak physical and in-ring condition."