Eva Marie was born in Walnut Creek, California, the youngest child of Barry and Josie Nelson. Her mother is Mexican, while her father is Italian. She has three older brothers (Nathan, Neal and Nick) and was raised in Concord, California. She wanted to become a professional soccer player, although her plans were put on hold when she suffered an ankle injury in her senior year of high school in 2002. Eva Marie, who played as a striker, recovered and continued playing at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Valley, California, where she received her associate degree in art.

Eva Marie appeared in a Fitness Blowout infomercial. In October, she was a part of the Marino Fitness Campaign and appeared in a Sketchers commercial. She appeared on the Sports Illustrated website as the Lovely Lady of the Day in December 2012 and on several magazine covers including Rukus, Import Tuner Magazine, and Glam Fit Magazine. Eva Marie won the 2012 Powertech Model and several fashion competitions. She has modeled for Red Chapter Clothing. Eva Marie has appeared on the Spanish dating show 12 Corazones. She appeared in the September edition of Maxim magazine. In 2014, Marie ranked number 83 in Maxim's Hot 100.

Eva Marie made an appearance on the June 3 episode of NXT, stating that she was looking forward to competing in the NXT women's division, while the NXT audience was heavily booing her. In a backstage segment with NXT general manager william Regal on the June 24 episode of NXT, Regal said he needed to see some proof that Eva Marie was ready to compete in the women's division. On the July 22 episode of NXT, Eva Marie defeated Cassie in her in–ring. Eva Marie then began competing at NXT live events where she ignited a feud with Carmella. This led to a match between the two at the special August 26 episode of NXT (taped during the NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn event), which Eva Marie won. Eva Marie then continued her winning streak, defeating the likes of Billie Kay, Carmella, and Liv Morgan. On the November 18 episode of NXT, Eva Marie challenged Bayley to a match for the NXT Women's Championship, which she received a week later, but was unsuccessful in winning the championship, despite interference from her ally Nia Jax and Referee Charles Robinson. Two weeks later on the December 9 episode of NXT, Eva Marie accompanied Nia Jax to challenge Bayley for the NXT Women's Championship at NXT TakeOver: London.

On August 23, 2014, Eva Marie married Jonathan Coyle.

Eva Marie got breast implants when she was 20. On the January 18, 2015 episode of Total Divas, one of her implants ruptured, causing silicone to leak into her bloodstream; this required surgery and new implants.

In 2016, Eva Marie launched her own fashion line, NEM Fashion.

By February 10, 2017, Eva Marie had begun pursuing interests outside of wrestling and began removing WWE references from her social media accounts. In July, it was announced that she would not be returning to the seventh season of Total Divas. On August 4, Eva Marie announced that she and WWE had parted ways.

She struggled with underage alcohol abuse, which was discussed in an episode of Total Divas. She elaborated further in 2018, admitting to having spent three months in jail for several DUIs prior to joining WWE.