In this week’s Diva Dish, Natalya visits the Neidharts, Layla shares a heartfelt message, Candice Michelle gets inked, Kelly Kelly hits the beach, and Eve stands up for her alma mater.

Family reunion
Natalya recently traveled to Tampa, Fla., to spend time with her father, WWE legend Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. The visit turned into a Neidhart family reunion, much to the Diva’s delight.

“We had an amazing weekend. We had a big barbecue at the Neidhart house,” she told Diva Dish.

“My dad actually got a new motorcycle, a Suzuki Boulevard, and he wanted to show it off,” the SmackDown Diva explained. “He took me for a spin around the neighborhood and, of course, he wanted to try to teach me how to drive it. I thought that was a little risky because I had a match coming up soon. So he took me out for a spin on it.”

Natalya said she enjoyed touring Tampa on her dad’s new motorcycle and pointed out that his fun-loving behavior brings out the best in her.

“I always enjoy spending time with my dad. He has such a personality. He makes me so excited to be wild and crazy!” she said.

Now that her father has a new motorcycle, he had to buy matching motorcycle gear for one of his littlest friends, too – his dog, Mr. Peabody.

“He got a little leather jacket. Everything matches the motorcycle,” Natalya said.

“I’m sure that dog could whip Maria’s dog, that’s for sure. Mr. Peabody will take Gemini down in a heartbeat. Mr. Peabody’s not playing games. Gemini’s going down, hard!”

Layla’s message
Raw Diva Layla recently spoke from the heart to Diva Dish. She had a special message she wanted to express to the WWE Universe.

“I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who reached out, sent me emails or comments, in reference to my mom passing away early this August. It means a lot to me,” Layla said.

“I know I haven’t spoken about it officially yet, because it’s something that’s still very sore and still hasn’t sunk in yet. But I just want to say thank you and that I do appreciate everyone being there for me and understanding this is a tragic point in my life right now.”

Layla explained that after her mother’s passing, she returned to her busy life as a WWE Diva because it’s what she believed her mother would want her to do.

“I just want to keep going and striving to do better. Everything I do now is going to make my mom even more proud of me than what she already was,” she said.

Layla expressed the importance to never take loved ones for granted and to value each day spent with them.

“I can honestly say to everybody, whoever is in your life – whether it’s a family member, a friend – don’t hold any grudges. Express to them how much they mean to you and how worthy they are and how special they are because life is so short, and literally can be gone right away,” she said.

“Love the people who are around you. Love what you do. Just be happy. So thank you very much again to everybody.”

Emotional ink
While former Women’s Champion Candice Michelle was recovering from her clavicle injury, the Diva got another tattoo.

“You go through such an emotional journey. I wanted to symbolize that journey and me coming out of that journey, so I got the shooting stars up my spine. The reason I got them on my spine is because I really feel, in my heart, I’ve come to place where my stars are aligned with love and gratitude,” she said.

Candice said it’s important to be thankful for all of life’s blessings, including one’s health.

“I think I took my health for granted, even my collarbone and every little way it moves. Every bone in your body is so important. On a daily basis, I think sometimes you forget to wake up and just say, ‘Thanks for being healthy,’” the Raw Diva said.

“I just have so much love for what I’ve been given. I feel very blessed. I feel like my stars are aligned. I’m just happy to be back. And if you do want to be a star, you have to have faith to believe in yourself, because I think being a star starts from inside of you.”

Beach bum
During a recent break from touring with WWE, Kelly Kelly soaked up the sun on the beach. But the Diva didn’t have to travel too far from her home in Tampa for some rest and relaxation.

“I had a nice, long, five days off. We went to St. Pete. It was only about 45 minutes away, but it was nice,” she said. “My friends and I got a hotel. We stayed right on the water. We woke up and went right on the beach, and it was really, really nice.”

The Raw Diva said there were no hurricanes in sight and the weather was perfect for enjoying watersports in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We went waterskiing. I had never done that before, so that was really cool. I tried to learn, but … I’m a speed demon. I have a really heavy foot,” she laughed. “So when we were trying to turn the waterski, it was leaning left already, and I almost flew off! It was pretty bad. I did it for a few minutes and then I got really scared, so I was done!

“We saw a dolphin swim right by us, too, which was awesome. I never was that close to a dolphin before in their habitat,” she said.

Scholarly slam
Eve wants to speak out about the bad reputation her alma mater has earned from Radar Magazine. The University of Southern California was named “Most Superficial” on Radar’s 2008 Dishonor Roll.

“First of all, I’m not quite sure how they were able to judge that. I think they were confused because USC is a very proud school, but that’s different from being arrogant or stuck up. I think people have a lot of misconceptions about that,” said the SmackDown Diva.

“Also, obviously, it’s a very affluent school because tuition is a lot of money, but they don’t know that there are a huge number of students there on full academic scholarships, like myself, when I went to school there.”

Eve assured Diva Dish that not all USC students are spoiled or superficial, stating she believes scholars come from a wide range of economic backgrounds.

“I think it’s all a big misconception and I’m still very proud to be a Trojan!”