Maria Kanellis Interview
By Adam Bernard

You know her as a former WWE Diva. You know her as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice, where she’s been kicking butt and taking names. Now, with the release of Sevin Sins, Maria Kanellis is also an independent recording artist. This week AngryMarks.com caught up with the multitalented beauty to get all the behind the scenes info on her many projects, including what’s been going on in Donald Trump’s boardroom when the cameras are off, the details of the rift that caused the split between her and the WWE, and the interesting way Maria’s found she can get people’s attention on a crowded red carpet.

Adam Bernard:  Let’s start off with the question on everyone’s mind; did Bret Michaels hit on you at any point during the filming of Celebrity Apprentice?

Maria Kanellis:  Constantly and always, and not only that, he hit on my boyfriend. When my boyfriend came he hit on him, too. He did not discriminate. This is so funny because he would hit on me and then he would say to my boyfriend, because my boyfriend was around at certain points, he would come down in the morning with me, and (Bret) would says something to me, flirt with me, and then he would turn to my boyfriend and go “no offense, man.” It was so funny.

AB:  Bret Michaels is an animal. Judging by the Rock of Love shows, clearly his style gets the job done.

MK:  Yeah, definitely.

AB:  What did you learn about yourself on the show?

MK:  I learned that every single show I look more and more like my mom and that I talk like my mom. It was like oh no, oh dear, the thing that you don’t want to happen, to turn out like your parents, you turn out exactly like them. It’s so funny.

AB:  So you’re getting a weekly reminder that you share some DNA.

MK:  Oh yes, and my sister, too. My sister is seven years younger than me and I talk just like her. Sometimes when it’s on in the other room I think that’s Janny talking, not me.

AB:  What did you take away from the experience that you feel you’ll be able to utilize for your music career?

MK:  I met Bret Michaels and Sharon Osbourne and Cyndi Lauper, three incredible people in the music industry. What I took away from that was talking to them about my music and being able to discuss with them what they thought about my music, so it was a great experience in that aspect. It was a great experience in learning to be more business minded and knowing that if you say something upfront and outright it gets you a whole lot more respect than being too shy to say something.

AB:  I would have never pictured you as a shy person after being on live television for so many years.

MK:  No, I’m not, not at all. I hate talking in front of five people, I would rather be in front of 20,000.

AB:  I can understand that for some reason.

MK:  It just turns into this amazing, moving blob of people. It’s awesome.

AB:  And when there’s only five of them you know they’re all listening.

MK:  Exactly, and they’re looking at you, and they stare at you. Which one do I look at? Which one do I talk to? It’s very strange.

AB:  Moving back to your music, did you get a chance to pick Sharon Osbourne’s brain regarding career moves?

MK:  I did talk to her a lot about it, but she was sick, A LOT, so it was kinda hard in that aspect. And why did I put her on cupcake duty I will never know. {laughs} What an idiot. I watched that episode going “how stupid is that?” Oh God, it was so dumb. But I did talk to her about it a bit, and I talked to her about Ozzfest. She’s so well respected in the rock music world, so it was really cool.

AB:  And no one died from the cupcakes, right?

MK:  Yeah. No one died. That’s good.

AB:  Let’s talk about your album. How long have you been working on the project? Was it something you were conceiving during your WWE career?

MK:  Yeah. I wrote my first song (for the album) two years ago. Two and a half years ago, actually. Then I recorded it about two years ago, and then I had stopped because I wanted WWE to fund the project because they have a whole lot more money than I do, (they’re) a billion dollar company. I wanted their money to do my project, but they weren’t on board with it. Also, I’m glad that I didn’t go that route because then they would have said you have to do it this way, and that wouldn't interest me at all. Then I ended up recording the last three songs on my EP in January (and) February and I finalized it in March. It was recently that I finished the last three songs.

AB:  When’s the official drop date?

MK:  Today. It’s on iTunes right now!

AB:  Are you also going to press up physical copies?

MK:  I’m gonna do them. Like I said, it’s not under a label and it’s completely independent and CDs cost money, and I have a job, kind of, so I didn’t want to do too much making of physical copies until I knew a little bit more about how it was gonna go, but I am gonna do physical copies now, but they are gonna be a limited edition. It’s gonna be maybe 2,000 total that I’m gonna make and I’m gonna sell them at signings and have them there with me and sign them. I want the whole grand scale of things, but right now I love that it’s an independent project.

AB:  If you knew you wanted to do music, what attracted you to pro wrestling?

MK:  Well, music was just always in the background for me.

AB:  It was background music!

MK:  Exactly! It was elevator music! Since I was about seven or eight years old I always wrote music and I didn’t know if I could do it or not, so I kinda just put it to the side. I was a huge fan of wrestling. Growing up I was a huge huge fan of wrestling. Loved The Rock, loved everything about the man, just wanted to interview him, so when the Diva Search came I entered online. (A lot of) people had their agents, I had a couple photos that I sent in through the internet and somehow I got five years out of it. I just loved Jonathan Coachman’s and Rock’s interactions and that’s really what attracted me to being a backstage interviewer.

AB:  Your relationship didn’t really end well with the WWE, did it?

MK:  It’s not that it didn’t end well, it just ended sudden. I wasn’t expecting it. I thought I had two more, maybe five years with the company. My contract was up anyways in April. It wasn’t about money or anything like that. What it was about was I wanted to do outside projects and I wanted to do them on my own and I didn’t want WWE saying I couldn’t do something because they didn’t approve. I just want to do stuff because I love it and because I’m passionate about it and I don’t think they had the same philosophy. That made us part ways. I wasn’t willing to give up the rights to anything and they weren’t willing to give me the rights to them.

AB:  Was that the ugliest breakup you’ve had in your life?

MK:  No. {laughs}

AB:  Whoa, that was an authoritative no.

MK:  Yeah, the ugliest breakup I’ve ever had was with CM Punk.

AB:  Because you had to see him every day afterwards?

MK:  Yeah, it sucked. I had to see him every day, I had to see how our lives were changing around each other, and I was so in love with him, and still, I think there’ll always be a part of me that does love him, but I thought he was my soulmate, he thought otherwise and it’s weird because I accidentally went to the same restaurant that I went to with him, today. I went to this Greek restaurant, he took me there, but I didn’t have a clue where it was, and today when I was lost I accidentally drove there, parked, went inside, and looked up and went “wait a minute, is this the same restaurant?” And it was. I ate at the same exact Greek restaurant, and I’m lost again. I have no idea where I am. It’s weird. He’s like the background music in my life sometimes. It’s very strange how he leads me into different things. The entire album started by the inspiration of being broken up with.

AB:  So there’s gonna be a little bit of anger on there. Anger and sadness.

MK:  Oh yeah, anger and sadness. “Fantasy” is about wanting to be someone’s fantasy even though you can never be that for them. “Change Your Mind Between My Thighs” is a girl trying to use her sexuality to get the man. “Alice In Wonderland” is about falling in love again; “off with my head, I fell in love again, you lose your head, you lose your heart, you fall apart.” And then “Seven Sins” is “lust, lust, this fairy tale sucks, why didn’t I give you my trust?” It’s all music that people can relate to and say “shit, that’s happened to me before.” I didn’t want to fall in love again, and here I am. I didn’t want to want that person so bad that it made me not trust them, it made me not believe in them. It’s something very deep to me and I hope that people can see it for themselves, too.

AB:  With all that you’re doing, have you found time to work in a modicum of a social life?

MK:  {laughs} I do, I try my best. I’m actually staying with my current boyfriend, amazing extraordinaire, first person in my life’s family right now. I get to see my friends whenever I can. My publicist is my new best friend. My mom just called me right before I called you and I was like trying to rush around and do things so I could just talk to my mom for just a minute. I’m actually going this weekend and gonna party like a rock star at my sister’s school, so I’m trying, but it’s hard sometimes.

AB:  Now, let me just preface this by saying this is one of the stranger comments I’ve said in an interview, but you have a really long tongue.

MK:  Yes, I do!

AB:  I’m not sure how I can ask a question about that without it sounding dirty, so, care to comment on your Gene Simmons-esque physical quality?

MK:  You know, me and my brother were born with this and it’s really crazy because we didn’t cut the little thing underneath our tongue, we didn’t do anything crazy, it’s just there. I was on the Revolver Golden Gods’ black carpet and everybody was paying attention, Slash was in front of me, Ozzy was around, and everybody was doing their thing and taking pictures of them, and I stuck my tongue out and all of a sudden everybody was taking photos of me, and I don’t know why, but that’s pretty funny.

AB:  I think you know why.

MK:  I do, I do. Everybody’s like “I’m sure the ladies love you,” and I’m like, I’m sure they do, but unfortunately, I mean as much as I love the ladies, I like the boys a little bit better.

AB:  That’s good for us.

MK:  {laughs}

AB:  Finally, even though you’ve said you have a boyfriend, I will ask this question; if you were to date any bespectacled journalist that you’ve never met in real life but are currently on the phone with, who would it be and why?

MK:  It would be you, because you have such a great interviewing technique that I love you and I think that you’re awesome.

AB:  Well thank you! Alright, @MariaLKanellis has agreed to by my bride. If you see that on Twitter don’t be alarmed.

MK:  {laughs} Oh well, you know, it just happened.

AB:  All of a sudden your boyfriend will log on and go “what the hell?”

MK:  Oh no, he wouldn't care. He’s a cameraman, he’s amazing. Sevin is because Vincent Cerrone is his name and Vin is the end of Sevin because he made it all possible. I mean, Punk may have been the inspiration, but Vinny gave me all the tools and he gave me the confidence to go after something I dream about, and have been dreaming about for a very long time.

For more from the lovely Maria check out her website mariakanellis.net, follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/MariaLKanellis, and get her Sevin Sins EP for only $3.99 on iTunes today!