Priscilla Kelly, formerly known as Gigi Dolin, has said that life outside WWE NXT has given her more financial freedom, and that fans often have the wrong idea about how much wrestlers in NXT actually earn.

In a new interview with Denise Salcedo, Kelly said she is enjoying being in control of her career since her release from WWE in May. She can now take independent bookings and sell her own merchandise freely.

“I can do whatever I want now. I can take signings. I can sell my own merch. I can do whatever I want,” Kelly said. “And that’s a huge part of it, too. Is in WWE, you don’t have that freedom. You don’t have any freedom, really. Like, they own everything you do. They even took, I think, almost half of my Cameo earnings as well. That was like the one thing that they do allow you to do, is Cameo, and they even take a percentage of that.”

Kelly went on to say that many fans wrongly think NXT stars live like millionaires, revealing that some contracts start as low as $30,000 a year.

“The common misconception about, especially NXT performers, is that we’re millionaires, right? A lot of fans for some reason think that if you work in WWE, and you’re under that umbrella, you’re a millionaire, you live in a mansion, you’re driving a [Mercedes] Benz, you’ve got it made. That’s not the case. In NXT, there’s contracts as low as $30,000 a year. And they do not go as high as you think,” she said.

Kelly also explained that living in Florida makes it even harder to manage those wages. “You have to live in Florida, which, it’s very expensive to live here. Going out to eat just for two people can run you $100 plus because everything is marked up from tourism and Florida’s just the hotbed for people,” she said. “Having to pay for new gear all the time and all these expenses, taking care of your body and getting all these little things, like, it all adds up.”

She added that this financial strain is not just limited to NXT talent. “Even main roster talent, like, of course there’s people on main roster that are making the really big, big, big bucks, but that’s a small percentage,” Kelly said. “A lot of people that are up there, like, they make good money, but they’re also paying for every hotel, they’re paying for all of their travel and all the food, everything they need on top of the other expenses of gear and taking care of your body and taking care of your sanity.”