Bianca Belair Talks New 'Fun-Filled' Reality Show, Working with Husband Montez Ford: 'I'm Blessed' (Exclusive)
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The WWE Raw Women's Champion tells PEOPLE she's building a "legacy" inside and outside the ring with her recent title reign and new reality series
Bianca Belair is being her "B-E-S-T" self.
The 34-year-old WWE star has become one of the inspirational faces of the popular wrestling company and has been busy filming a new Hulu reality series about her and husband Montez Ford's unique life as professional wrestlers. All the while, Belair is in the midst of a historic championship reign with no end in sight.
No wonder she's called "the -EST of WWE" – a nickname that crowns her the "strongest," "fastest," "toughest" and perhaps already one of the "greatest" women's wrestlers of all-time. Now, Belair is exploring her stardom beyond the ropes as she and her family enters the world of reality television.
"I'm building my legacy right now," Belair tells PEOPLE. "It's special and not anything like what I would have imagined when I first started wrestling. It's very busy, very demanding, but at the same time I get to bring my family along with me and we're having fun."
Belair and Ford married in 2018 after they met through WWE, where they've become two of the company's biggest stars.
On television each week, Belair has used her CrossFit-inspired athleticism, an unflappable upbeat attitude and her trademark calf-length hair extensions (which she often uses against her opponent) to win over the crowd since debuting in 2016. Her husband is even more buoyant, portraying a life-of-the-party character who's become a three-time tag team champion and fan favorite over the years.
At home, Belair says the couple is mostly the same as they are inside the ring.
"I'm a busy body," says Belair, who also sews her own ring gear during the little downtime she has on the road. "As far as my husband? Who you get in the ring is who I get at home. He's bouncing around, yelling and screaming. That's him at seven o'clock in the morning. He's a human being that's just full of so much joy."
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The decorated WWE couple hopes their new reality show — which does not yet have a name, but will debut on Hulu in the second half of 2023 — can "pull back the curtain" on what it's like to be a pro wrestler. The extensive travel and pressure of performing live on television each week can be hard, especially for wrestlers with families at home, but Belair and Ford do their best to have fun with the challenges they face.
"It's really the most fun-filled, positive show that's just focused on us and our relationship," she says.
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Belair's parents and Ford's mom will play prominent roles in the upcoming series, the WWE star says. Belair is also the stepmother to Ford's three kids, who often travel with their parents at live events or follow along on TV at home. Their daughter Selena has seen her parents wrestle so much she's now aiming to be a pro wrestler herself.
"It's really cool," Belair says. "I used to hear her say it a lot but I thought it was just a phase. Then one day I asked her, what do you want to be when you grow up? And she kind of looked at me like…'Um, I want to be a wrestler?!' "
The kids have plenty to look up to in their parents. Especially Belair, who's not only a world champion but a historic one at that.
The former University of Tennessee track star became the longest-reigning Raw Women's Champion earlier this month. Her title reign, which currently sits at 400-plus days and counting, has also made her the longest reigning Black champion in WWE history, outlasting the likes of legendary stars like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Booker T.
Belair first won her Raw Women's Championship back in April 2022 and will defend the title this Saturday at WWE's "Night of Champions" event against Asuka.
Meanwhile Belair and Ford, who's fresh off his own win at WrestleMania 39 last month, are "excited" to continue watching each other grow inside and out of the WWE arena and share their lives with a new group of fans later this year.
"I'm blessed to do what I love with the person I love," Belair says with a huge smile. "My husband, we travel together, we work together, we are together all the time. We're just best friends."
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