Sonya Deville On How WWE Can Incorporate LGBTQ Characters

Sonya Deville has been an on-screen presence, acting in a GM role alongside Adam Pearce since her return to WWE in January, following her 'Loser Leaves WWE' match at Summerslam against former tag team partner, Mandy Rose. In an interview with talkSPORT, Deville discussed her relationship with Vince McMahon and how willing he is to give people chances.

"We've developed a really great relationship over the past few years. I've gone to him with things and ideas a lot and he's always so supportive and receptive of what I want to do," Deville said. "The thing with Vince is if you're passionate about something and you go in there and you're like 'hey, I'm going to kill this, just give me the opportunity,' he'll give it to you. Just when you get it, don't mess it up!"

Deville explained her first interaction with Mr. McMahon. "That's the type of boss he is. I went to him a few years ago and said 'hey, let me show you I can talk on the mic the same way I can punch people in the face.' He was like 'OK' and that's when we got the Mandy promo in the Performance Center. It was like 7 minutes long, but prior to that, I'd never really had the mic."

Sonya Deville has been very vocal in the past about the inclusion of LGBTQ characters on screen. As part of the LGBTQ community, she explained why she would like there to be more inclusivity.

"LGBTQ inclusion is something I've talked about for years. To incorporate that into WWE TV organically should happen because it's just part of life. It's like every TV show usually has a gay character because, statistically, there would be a gay character!" Deville went on. "I think it's a natural thing. I'd like it to be really organic. I'd like it to be done right, of course, but I would like it to be organic so that if it was ever a part of my character or a layer of me, I would like it to be subtle and make sense.

Sonya Deville explained how she believes the inclusion of LGBTQ characters should happen.

"You don't necessarily need a whole angle around it. We've had ideas in the past and things like that, but it just needs to be organic," Deville said. "If there's a scene where one of the male superstars called his wife backstage and then one day, I could call my girlfriend backstage, you know what I mean? Just organic things like that which are a part of life, I don't think anything needs to be forced."

Deville explained how WWE could keep everything simple while being effective.

"When some people think representation they think 'oh, we're going to do a love angle with Sonya and Mandy' and it's like no, it doesn't mean that. It means you could just find out one day that my character likes women and that would be cool."