# Total Bellas
**Total Bellas** is an American reality television series that aired on E! from October 5, 2016 to 2021, following WWE twin sisters Nikki and [Brie Bella](https://www.edgepedia.org/brie-bella) in their lives away from the ring, alongside their partners [John Cena](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-cena) and Daniel Bryan and their extended family. It is a spinoff of E!'s *Total Divas*, which premiered in 2013.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5646172/) • [2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/totalbellas/article/total-bellas-premiere-date-announced)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | E!, October 5, 2016 to 2021, six seasons, 54 episodes[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5646172/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/total_bellas) |
| Subjects | Nikki and Brie Bella with John Cena, Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson), and their family[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/totalbellas/article/total-bellas-premiere-date-announced) |
| Production | WWE and Bunim/Murray Productions; the twins also served as executive producers[4](https://corporate.wwe.com/about/news/2016/11-16-2016b) |
| Season 1 premiere | October 5, 2016, six one-hour episodes, all four living under one roof in suburban Tampa, Florida[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/totalbellas/article/total-bellas-premiere-date-announced) |
| Peak performance | Season 3 drew nearly 1 million total viewers per episode and became E!'s #2 rated show behind *Keeping Up with the Kardashians*[5](https://corporate.wwe.com/about/news/2018/11-28-2018) |
| Rating and format | TV-14 (L\|D); roughly 43-minute episodes; English-language reality genre[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5646172/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/total_bellas) |
## Premise
Season 1 centered on four [WWE Superstars](https://www.edgepedia.org/wwe-superstars) living under one roof in the [Tampa, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/tampa-florida) suburbs: the free-spirited, vegan-loving Brie and Bryan, and the designer-handbag-loving Nikki and the meticulously organized John Cena. The season opened with Nikki sidelined by recent neck surgery, Brie's retirement at [WrestleMania](https://www.edgepedia.org/wrestlemania), Bryan's retirement from WWE, and Cena's rising Hollywood profile, offering a beyond-the-ropes look at how the four juggled these changes and prepared for uncertain futures.[2](https://www.wwe.com/shows/totalbellas/article/total-bellas-premiere-date-announced)
The twins told TheWrap that *Total Bellas* is "a deeper, more VIP look into our lives, relationships and families" than *Total Divas*, with more of the men's point of view, including more of Daniel Bryan and John Cena. While *Total Divas* was built around feuds among the female wrestlers, the conflict here was domestic: "When you have all of your family under one roof, drama always happens." Nikki compared the tone to *Newlyweds* or *The Osbournes* rather than *Keeping Up with the Kardashians*. Announced storylines included Nikki's return from neck surgery after doctors said she would never return to the ring, Brie coping with retirement, and Mama Bella's marriage to a wrestler.[6](https://www.thewrap.com/wwes-nikki-and-brie-bella-on-why-total-bellas-is-nothing-like-other-reality-shows/)
## Season arc
The six seasons ran from October 2016 through November 2020: season 1 in October 2016, season 2 in September 2017, season 3 in May 2018, season 4 in January 2019, season 5 in April 2020, and season 6 in November 2020.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/total_bellas)
**Season 2** was picked up in November 2016 as eight one-hour episodes, premiering in 2017. It reversed the first season's living arrangement: [Nikki Bella](https://www.edgepedia.org/nikki-bella) and John Cena temporarily relocated to [Phoenix, Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/phoenix-arizona) to help Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan through their first pregnancy, as Brie's baby bump grew and Bryan traveled constantly in his new role as General Manager of SmackDown Live.[4](https://corporate.wwe.com/about/news/2016/11-16-2016b)
**Season 4** premiered Sunday, January 13, 2019 at 9 PM ET/PT. It followed Nikki as a single woman dating for the first time in almost a decade, with Brie playing matchmaker, and the twins' return to the ring on the road to WWE's first-ever all-women's pay-per-view event [Evolution](https://www.edgepedia.org/evolution). Brie and Bryan also weighed whether to expand their family, with Nikki deciding to train in San Diego with Brie for the event.[5](https://corporate.wwe.com/about/news/2018/11-28-2018)
## Reception
**Ratings.** Season 3 finished as the show's highest-rated season to date among all key demographics, drawing nearly 1 million total viewers per episode, up 22% from the previous season in the core P18-49 demographic, and ranking behind only *Keeping Up with the Kardashians* on E!. Sunday premieres consistently ranked among the top 10 primetime programs on ad-supported cable across all key demos. Season 3 averaged more than 4 million social engagements a week, 123% above season 2's 1.8 million, and the show held more than 1.2 million social followers at the time of the season 4 announcement.[5](https://corporate.wwe.com/about/news/2018/11-28-2018) On IMDb the series holds a 6.1/10 rating from 680 users.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5646172/)
**Content.** Common Sense Media, which rates the show for ages 14 and up, notes a fair amount of sexual innuendo, intense family bickering, and drinking, alongside themes about the importance of family and being healthy. Surgical procedures are sometimes shown, and the long-term physical effects of wrestling are highlighted.[7](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/total-bellas)
## Context in wrestling reality television
*Total Bellas* belongs to a line of WWE-based reality series on E! that includes *Total Divas* (2013–) and *Miz & Mrs.* (2018–), all renewed for additional seasons.[8](https://cinephile.ca/wp-content/uploads/Cinephile-13.1-Low-Culture-and-Mass-Media-Narratives-of-the-Mainstream.pdf) Like *Total Divas*, it presents WWE performers' personal lives as the main subject, a crossover of professional wrestling and the reality television genre that also carries professional stakes, since the twins' storylines on the shows intersected with their in-ring careers, including their path to WWE's all-women's pay-per-view Evolution.[5](https://corporate.wwe.com/about/news/2018/11-28-2018)
## References
1. [Total Bellas (TV Series 2016–2021), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5646172/)
2. ["Total Bellas" premiere date announced, WWE.com (June 27, 2016)](https://www.wwe.com/shows/totalbellas/article/total-bellas-premiere-date-announced)
3. [Total Bellas, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/total_bellas)
4. [E! Greenlights Season Two of "Total Bellas," WWE Corporate (November 16, 2016)](https://corporate.wwe.com/about/news/2016/11-16-2016b)
5. [E! Sets Season Four Premiere of "Total Bellas," WWE Corporate (November 28, 2018)](https://corporate.wwe.com/about/news/2018/11-28-2018)
6. [WWE's Nikki and Brie Bella on Why "Total Bellas" Is Nothing Like Other Reality Shows, TheWrap (October 5, 2016)](https://www.thewrap.com/wwes-nikki-and-brie-bella-on-why-total-bellas-is-nothing-like-other-reality-shows/)
7. [Total Bellas: Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/total-bellas)
8. [Low Culture and Mass Media: Narratives of the Mainstream, Cinephile 13.1](https://cinephile.ca/wp-content/uploads/Cinephile-13.1-Low-Culture-and-Mass-Media-Narratives-of-the-Mainstream.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Seasons, episodes, and installments › Screen seasons › Reality docuseries and lifestyle seasons › Docu-soap and lifestyle series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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