John Cena isn’t wrestling with his date night ideas.
Over four years after the WWE icon and his wife Shay Shariatzadeh tied the knot in a private ceremony, he revealed how they continue to make the most of his public engagements.
“We try to make a date out of all these things,” John told E! News at Amazon’s Upfront red carpet in New York City May 12. “She’s here and we’re going to have some fun.”
After all, the 48-year-old was there celebrating his upcoming film Heads of State starring Idris Elba, Priyanka Chopra and Jack Quaid.
“A great cast is always great, ’cause you’re only as good as the person you’re dancing with,” he gushed. “We’ve got good professionals in a good environment, where they can be their best. We’ve got great stunts, great action pieces.” (For more with John and his costars, tune into E! News tonight, May 13 at 11 p.m.)
John and Shay, 36, will always dress to impress at red carpet events and this evening was no different. John wore a deep purple striped suit while Shay complemented his look in a lavender shift dress.
While the duo is happy to show out to celebrate the actor’s growing filmography, the couple prefers to keep much of their personal life private.
“I certainly value her safety and well-being,” John explained on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast in April 2024. “One of the promises I made to her on the altar was, ‘I will do my best not to put you in any undue harm’s way.’ It’s not to say that everyone out there has bad intentions or we’d ever run into someone bad, but you also never know when someone feels threatened.”
Although the Peacemaker star’s career is very public, Shay, an engineer, lives the majority of her life out of the spotlight.
“If my wife, who is my travel partner and partner in life, now feels unsafe or uncomfortable in all these new places we go, I’ve got another hurdle to climb in my personal life,” he explained. “It’s just an exercise in the strength of boundaries and the value of boundaries.”
Luckily, the couple’s priorities are aligned perfectly.
“She loves me for who I am, and I love her for exactly who she is,” John explained to Today in May 2023. “We have core values which we both believe in, and one of those is keeping our information to us and those extremely close to our inner circle. I couldn’t be happier, but I think a way for us to keep our intimacy is by keeping it intimate.”
-Reporting by Emily Curl
