In June 2015, Lee was one of the 13 finalists for the
sixth season of the
WWE competition
Tough Enough. on August 25, Lee was chosen by fan vote as one of the winners, along with
Josh Bredl, earning a $250,000 one-year contract with WWE. During the final, Lee adopted the
ring name Hope and lost a
singles match to
Alicia Fox. In September, Lee was assigned to WWE's
developmental territory NXT, based at the
WWE Performance Center in
Orlando, Florida, to begin training. Returning to her real name, Lee made her first appearance for NXT at a
live event on January 16, 2016, when she delivered a
heel promo. She made her in-ring debut at the January 30 live event during a
six-woman tag team match, which also involved fellow
Tough Enough competitor
Mandy Rose. == Personal life and death ==