She had a job to do. On Labor Day, Nikki Garcia , the former professional wrestler also known as Nikki Bella, took the stage alongside comedy star Rob Riggle to emcee the Netflix live competitive eating special Unfinished Beef — a hot dog eating contest featuring speed-eating rivals Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi in Las Vegas. As Rob introduced her during the September 2 event, the crowd went wild. “ T hank you, everyone. I’m so happy to be here !” Nikki, wearing a red jumpsuit and a wide smile — but not her wedding ring — responded, telling fans, “I love you too.”
She needed the love. In a shocking turn, days earlier, her husband, Artem Chigvintsev , had been arrested on domestic violence charges. Around 8:30 a.m. on August 29 — three days after the retired athlete, 40, and the pro dancer had celebrated their second wedding anniversary — Artem placed a 911 call from their Napa, California, home requesting medical assistance. Per a recording, “he got into an argument with his wife and his wife threw shoes at [him],” with the operator adding, “There is a 4-year-old child on scene.” Namely, the couple’s son, Matteo. After the 42-year-old canceled the request, paramedics stood down, but law enforcement officers still showed up at the residence — and took the Dancing With the Stars pro into custody for felony corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant. “Friends are telling Nikki she married a monster,” a source exclusively tells Life & Style. “And she wants out.” Says a rep, “This is a private matter, and Nikki asks for privacy for her and her family at this time.”
CHILLING DETAILS
The Napa County Sheriff ’s Office confirmed that deputies had physical evidence that led to Artem’s arrest . “When it comes to felony domestic violence, it’s not based on hearsay,” a Napa County Sheriff ’s Office spokesman told a news outlet. “The deputies saw something.” Though the spokesman would not comment on the specifics of this case, he explained that for officers to take such action, “there would be evidence of blood, sometimes scratches, sometimes it’s bruises. It’s something visible where the deputies said, ‘OK, we’re making this arrest.’” Artem “was cooperative,” the spokesman confirmed, and was released on $25,000 bail the same day.
Artem Chigvintsev’s Dating History: Nikki Bella, Torrey DeVitto and More He’s scheduled to appear at an arraignment November 4. On September 4, authorities confirmed the case had been turned over to prosecutors. According to a spokesman for the Napa County D.A.’s Office, “We are currently performing a thorough review of the facts and evidence,” which some believe could include body cam footage as well as witness statements, photos that may have been taken or anything else the police found during their investigation.
TROUBLING BEHAVIOR
Now Nikki is figuring out her next moves. On August 31, she and Matteo were photographed boarding a private jet at San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. (Artem is reportedly staying with a friend and not at the family home.) It’s hardly the future she imagined when she and the Russian dancer got together nearly six years ago. After meeting in 2017 as partners on season 25 of DWTS , they reconnected the following year — months after Nikki ended her engagement to wrestler turned actor John Cena . Within months of going public in 2019, the dance champion proposed. “In the beginning, Artem swept Nikki off her feet. He was her dream man,” says the source. “She’s always been a romantic. But reality set in and now Nikki doesn’t recognize him as the man she married.”
DWTS' Artem Chigvintsev’s Net Worth Shines Bright Like a Mirror Ball She tried to make it work , revealing as far back as 2021 that they were in couples therapy. “[When he] gets really stressed, he doesn’t realize his tone,” she told DWTS season 29 winner Kaitlyn Bristowe on her podcast, adding that during her time on the show, Artem was “super strict” in rehearsal to the point where she once walked out and branded him “a d--k.” “Sometimes I’d be like, ‘Is he mad at me?’ It would make me feel really off. It would just be his tone. ... It was hard on me.”
His tone, it seems, wasn’t the only problem. “ Artem is known to have a temper . He’s a perfectionist and that makes him impatient at times,” explains the source. “Nikki made excuses for him, saying it was because he was so passionate about his craft.” According to the source, the relationship “was volatile. He came across as angry to a good many people, including his former partners and colleagues.”
Indeed, in 2015, British TV host Fern Britton , 67, accused Artem of behaving abusively when they were partnered on the 2012 season of the U.K. competition Strictly Come Dancing . “He would look at my feet and just kick me or shove me,” she said in an interview. “He was like, ‘Shut your face. Go home before I kill you.’” Artem insisted it wasn’t like that, telling a newspaper, “I believe I treated Fern with respect and genuine care and these claims about me are the opposite of everything I believe in and the person I am.”
UNHAPPY ENDING
Nikki’s twin and former wrestling partner, Brie Garcia , harbored concerns long before Artem’s arrest, says the source. “She worried about his temper. Like a lot of people, she found his sometimes controlling behavior troubling. There were fears things might escalate.” The feeling right now, explains the source, is that “there’s no going back. Nikki’s looking for a lawyer.”
As Nikki explores her options, it seems Artem wants to salvage their marriage and has made it clear he’ll do whatever he can to win her back, per a September 5 news report. “He has an uphill battle ahead of him. The whole thing is a mess,” an insider told the outlet. Nikki, the source tells Life & Style , “is determined to take her son and get out of the marriage. A split is bound to get ugly.”
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