Bianca Belair Recalls Dealing With Eating Disorder And Being In Psychiatric Hospital

The current WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair is known for her strength, but she has also opened up about spending time in a psychiatric hospital.

Belair is one of the biggest superstars in WWE that has headlined WrestleMania, WWE television shows, live events and is known as “The EST of WWE.” Belair was a successful All-American track & field collegiate athlete at the University of Tennessee before her days in WWE. That athleticism is shown every time she steps into a ring.

While talking to BT Sport’s Ariel Helwani recently, Belair openly spoke about her time in a psychiatric hospital while she was in college.

“Not realising that I was carrying it all with me to Texas A&M, which is why I was unsuccessful there. Texas A&M, amazing program, amazing coach. Coach Vince Anderson at the time was the one who, at my lowest point, pulled me from the track team. He told me, ‘You can’t compete until you get yourself together mentally because this is more important than what you do on the track.’”

“It got to a point where I was put into a psychiatric hospital, it got that low. I was still hiding it and that was when everyone found out. So he was the one, once I got out, he said, ‘I can’t come back.’ He made me see a psychiatrist, he was like, ‘You have to get yourself together mentally because that is what is more important.’ He was the first person who put my mental health above anything else.”

“My parents, I was finally open up to my parents and be vulnerable to them, and that was one big major step to my recovery with everything.”

Belair would go on to the University of Tennessee when she got better and was named to the SEC’s academic honor roll.

During the interview, Belair also revealed that she was dealing with an eating disorder during high school and why it was very unhealthy:

“My freshman year, I just struggled so much mentally. I was struggling with an eating disorder secretly in high school, so when I got to college I told myself, ‘Okay, I’m not going to do this anymore. I’m gonna be healthy.”

Belair signed with WWE in April 2016 and would spend the next four years learning/training about being a WWE superstar while also appearing on NXT when she got more experience. Belair joined the main roster in the 2020 “pandemic era” of WWE before really taking off on the Smackdown brand leading to her WrestleMania 37 main event match when she beat Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s Title. She has also been married to fellow WWE superstar Montez Ford since 2018.

Earlier this year, Belair beat Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 38 to become the Raw Women’s Champion. Belair also beat Lynch at SummerSlam two weeks ago to put an end to their rivalry. The two women shared a hug in the ring after their match.

Looking ahead, Belair will team up with Asuka & Alexa Bliss to face Bayley, IYO SKY and Dakota Kai at WWE’s Clash at the Castle Premium Live Event on Saturday, September 3rd in Cardiff, Wales.

Thanks to our friends at Inside The Ropes for the quotes above.