Ex-WWE star Renee Paquette on ‘finding her voice’, pregnancy cravings and Jon Moxley’s unique announcement

Since leaving WWE last summer, Renee Young – known using her actual surname Paquette – has gone from strength to strength.

The former commentator, interviewer and Kickoff panel host was massive part of the company’s programming throughout her eight years there, and fans were stunned when she decided to walk away.

She’s not slowed down, and Renee – who’s just three months away from becoming a mum for the first time with her husband and AEW wrestler Jon Moxley – is currently hosting her own Oral Sessions podcast, as well as looking ahead to releasing her cookbook, which she started writing while still with WWE.

She exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘The writing aspect of it was something that I really loved, the blurbs before the recipes. Just to reconnect with myself in that way, to reconnect with my voice that wasn’t just my voice within WWE.

‘You know, you have to talk a certain way when your broadcasting, so it was cool to just really check back with myself and write how I used to write all my own stuff. I feel like it was a quick connection like, “Oh, that’s how you do that!”

‘It was really fun, it was such a reconnection with myself, which just makes me that much more proud of the project.’

Everything’s going on for the 35-year-old Canadian, who also recently got her United States citizenship – and she’s hoping to keep going strong once she becomes a mum for the first time.

‘Like right now, my mindset is, cool, I’m gonna have a baby and then a couple of weeks after that I’ll just get back to the grind and we’ll keep moving forward,’ she smiled.

‘But who knows how much this is gonna rock my world? I’ve not a clue, I have no idea!’

Speaking from her and Jon’s home in Las Vegas, Nevada, Renee is clearly excited about her pregnancy and parenthood, even if there have been some struggles for as a major foodie.

‘What sucks for me is because I am such a food person, I’ve not been cooking at all during this pregnancy – because I could live off of peanut and butter sandwiches and be OK. That’s all I want! I don’t want anything fancy,’ she laughed.

‘I never have a sweet tooth! But all I want is cereals, donuts – there’s actually a box of donuts in my kitchen now and they’re amazing. So I have to just take little bits of them, break off little pieces of them…

‘I’m trying to get more protein in because you have to, but I just want cakes and pancakes and cinnamon toast and peanut butter.’

With Renee stepping back from the kitchen, you have to wonder if her husband is stepping up to the plate.

‘No, Jon does not do much cooking but he does order in and he’s got that system down,’ she said. ‘Which is good, ’cause there are times late at night I’ll be like, “Hey I would love to have a Blizzard” and then he’ll get me some Dairy Queen, which is amazing.’

Jon played a bit part in their pregnancy announcement, as he casually revealed he was going to become a father during an emotional promo on AEW Dynamite last year.

Thankfully, Renee was tipped off about his plans, and she was glad to have the pressure taken off.

‘I was relieved that he was the one that was telling everybody,’ she admitted. ‘I didn’t wanna like – you wanna make a big deal about it, but you also wanna be a bit subtle.

‘I was actually glad that he took the reigns on that – and the way that he did it on TV was perfect. It was a casual little drop in the middle of his promo and then he kept going on, and all of a sudden my phone was blowing up.’

The broadcaster has recently joked about AEW owner Tony Khan needing to set up a nursery on site after Cody and Brandi Rhodes revealed their own pregnancy around the same time, and having someone going through the same thing has been a huge help.

She’s also turned to the likes of Becky Lynch and the Bella Twins, with plenty of her wrestling family either pregnant or having recently given birth/

‘It’s really cool to have that female support system,’ she smiled. ‘Just reach out and check in – especially with Brandi and I. We’re both really in that same boat of timeline, so we’re just constantly like, “This hurts, and this is going on, and my hormones are doing this.” ‘

And while Renee is excited to push on with Oral Sessions and the release of her book Messy In The Kitchen in May, she’s also ready for her whole world to change this summer.

‘I’m very lucky that I just happen to be in a position that like, OK, we’re having a baby in three months and should I want to take a step back and just enjoy that, I can,’ she smiled.

‘I’m gonna kind of play it by ear and see what happens. But at the same time, when great opportunities come up, you better believe I’m seizing those opportunities.’

*Renee Paquette hosts the Oral Sessions, and her cookbook Messy In The Kitchen will be released in May.

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