Former WWE star says family and personal boundaries shaped her decision
Summary
– Layla revealed she turned down a reported $250,000 WWE Playboy offer
– WWE first approached Extreme Exposé before later offering Layla and Kelly Kelly individual deals
– Layla said her family background and personal boundaries were the main reasons she declined
Layla had a chance to accept a major Playboy payday during her WWE run, but she turned it down.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, the former WWE star said the original idea involved Extreme Exposé. WWE approached Layla, Kelly Kelly, and Brooke Adams around 2007 about doing Playboy together.
Layla said she immediately knew it was not something she wanted to do.
“Yes, well, actually it wasn’t just me at first. So what happened was we were called into the office and it was Kelly Kelly and Brooke Adams and myself. And they said, well, this year we want to do, I think it was 2007, when Maria actually did the cover. And they were like, we want to do Extreme Exposé for Playboy. And I was like, no. I was like, no way. I don’t want to.”
After she turned down the group idea, WWE later made individual offers to Layla and Kelly Kelly. Layla said her offer was around $250,000, but her answer stayed the same.
“And then because I didn’t want to do Extreme Exposé, they offered Kelly Kelly and myself individually. And I think they’d offered me like $250,000 to do it. And I was like, no, I’m not doing it.”
Layla explained that her decision was tied to her family and background. She said her Moroccan heritage, Muslim family, and concern over embarrassing her loved ones all played a role.
“Honestly, I was really scared because a lot of people don’t know this, I’m Arab. I’m Moroccan heritage. My family are Muslim and I was always told don’t do anything like that. I knew my brother, oh my God, my brother would have been so mad. So that’s why I said no. I think that’s going too far. What I’m doing already is a lot.”
Layla admitted the money would have helped her financially, and she even joked that it might have allowed her to retire earlier. Still, she said she could not picture herself going through with the shoot.
“I’m glad I said no because I really couldn’t see myself going through the shoot. But I’m also sad I said no because I could have probably retired that year. From a financial standpoint, but not like… I couldn’t have gone for a shoot. I just can’t see myself doing it. There was no way. I can’t do it.”
She also looked back on how direct she was when the offer came up. Layla said she had just won the 2006 Diva Search and did not want to follow that by posing nude the next year.
“As soon as he asked me, no. I actually said to him, I think I was so cocky, I said, ‘Well, I won the Diva Search 2006. In 2007, I’m not going naked for that.’ It was also because of my family, my brother. I really didn’t want to embarrass my family, that’s all.”
Layla turned down a large offer, but she made it clear that her decision came down to protecting her values. The money mattered, but not enough to cross a line she was not comfortable crossing.
