WWE wrestler Paige only moved up from NXT to the main roster in April 2014, the night after WrestleMania, but instantly made a major impact – winning the WWE Divas champion belt in her RAW in-ring debut (she’s been champ twice now) and quickly becoming a fixture in WWE programming.

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Paige in Total Divas.

That programming includes Paige’s role on the WWE reality series Total Divas , which begins its fifth season Tuesday night on E! I spoke to Paige about what it’s like to concurrently be a part of very different shows like RAW, SmackDown and Total Divas (and last year, WWE Tough Enough, where she was a judge) and the different fans she encounters as a result – and how these days, she is able to appear both as the character “Paige” and her actual self all at the same time.There is a new girl called Amanda, which is strange for myself because I did a show called Tough Enough for WWE, which is basically the American Idol of wrestling. She didn’t win but I was her judge and had to play a meaner role on there. Having her on the show is a big surprise, which you’ll see in this season when she gets introduced. None of us are expecting it. But there’s going to be drama, like always. There’s a lot of really, really nice stuff in there this season which I’m really looking forward to. Myself and Foxy have a lot of good episodes, which you’re going to see, and there’s going to be some new characters in it. I’m really excited for it this time around and I’m really excited for you guys to watch it.I knew that happened because last time I was at WrestleMania, I was walking down the street and this girl walked up to me and was like “Oh my god, Paige, what are you doing here!?” And if you look around there’s WrestleMania signs everywhere and I was like “I’m here for WrestleMania.” And she was so confused and she was like “Are you filming?” and I was like, “Oh, okay you’re a Total Divas fan! Yes, I’m filming, but this is our biggest show of the year,” and she doesn’t care. [Laughs] And how they recognize me too from like a snapback and blue hair and pale skin. You can always tell the difference - who is a wrestling fan and who is a Total Divas fan.I think I made it pretty clear when I signed on that this wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do at first, because I’m a very private person and I don’t like my personal stuff out there. But once we started, it’s an awesome show and you can definitely use it as a platform to give out a lot of positive messages too. I have a message about how you should completely be yourself and not give a damn what everyone thinks about you. Look how you like; you’re amazing how you are. I definitely think Total Divas is positive like that. I’m happy I’m on the show now. I also got to know the girls a little more. The first year I was on the road. so I didn’t get to know everyone yet. So yeah this was definitely a great time to get to know everyone too. I’m very happy now that I did it.It’s really cool because Tough Enough, I had to stay in character but could show a little bit of myself as well. WWE, I’m just full-on Paige, my in-ring character. Total Divas is where I can completely be myself and be my lunatic, weird person. It’s cool but you have to switch on and off to all the different things. because Total Divas could be filming at Tough Enough. We went from RAW, where I was completely my character all the way, to Tough Enough, where I can be half character, half me, and then Total Divas is filming, so I have to be completely Paige, my outside self. It was very random but I learned quickly how to switch between the different characters. It’s kind of wild.

Continue to Page 2, as Paige talks NXT, the break-up of her faction, PCB, and WrestleMania possibilities.