Layla El

Layla
Layla in 2014
Birth nameLayla El
Born (1977-06-25) 25 June 1977 (age 47)
London, England, United Kingdom
Spouse(s)
(m. 2015)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Layla
Layla El
Billed height5 ft 2 in (157 cm)
Billed weight119 lb (54 kg)
Billed fromMiami, Florida
Trained byJesse Hernandez
Dave Finlay
Debut16 August 2006
Retired27 July 2015

Layla El (born 25 June 1977) is an English retired professional wrestler, dancer and model. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, under the mononymous ring name Layla. She danced for Carnival Cruise Lines, the Miami Heat franchise of the National Basketball Association, and Kanye West during his performance at the MTV Video Music Awards before becoming a contestant on the 2006 edition of WWE's Diva Search, which she won to earn a contract with the company.

Initially appearing on the SmackDown brand, El moved to ECW in January 2007. There, she formed the Extreme Exposé dance troupe with Kelly Kelly and Brooke Adams. In 2008, she was drafted to the Raw brand, where she began managing William Regal. The following year, she returned to SmackDown and formed an alliance with Michelle McCool known as LayCool. In May 2010, she won the WWE Women's Championship for the first time. She is the first British woman and the first Diva Search winner to hold the championship, and was the final champion when the title was retired in 2010. In April 2012, she won the WWE Divas Championship upon her return from a year-long absence due to injury, and held it until September that year. She then wrestled for the next three years until her retirement in 2015.