Nikki Garcia came back into the spotlight just days after her husband Artem Chigvintsev was arrested on domestic violence charges.
Garcia, 40, co-hosted Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef, a live Netflix event, her first public appearance since Chigvintsev’s arrest last week.
Garcia was joined by comedian Rob Riggle for the event, a hot dog eating contest between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi held Monday at the Luxor in Las Vegas.
The WWE pro looked exuberant as she took the stage with a big smile on her face, wearing a bright red, sleeveless jumpsuit and her jet-black hair down in loose waves.
However, Nikki, surprisingly, lost her wedding ring after her husband was arrested for domestic violence.
Nikki Garcia came back into the spotlight after her husband Artem Chigvintsev was arrested for domestic violence
Nikki and co-host Rob Riggle (R) were pictured with winner Joey Chestnut after he was announced as the winner
The former professional wrestler had a bare ring finger on her left hand and appeared to be making no effort to hide the fact that she wasn’t wearing her ring.
“My fantastic co-host today is a successful athlete herself, WWE Hall of Famer, Nikki Garcia, everybody!” Riggle announced at the start of the event.
During her introduction, Garcia responded to a spectator’s sweet cry.
“Thank you Rob! Thank you everyone, I’m so happy to be here! And in about 40 minutes — oh I love you too! — these two undisputed heavyweights of competitive eating are going to be standing on this stage, gobbling down hot dogs at unimaginable speeds and you know what, you’ll all have to see it to believe it,” Nikki said.
The appearance came just days after Garcia’s husband Chigvintsev, 42, was arrested.
The Dancing With The Stars dancer was arrested Thursday in Napa, California, on suspicion of domestic violence. He was released from jail later that afternoon after his bail was set at $25,000.
The Russian-born dancer was arrested after police saw “traumatic” physical damage to a victim. Garcia was also in Napa at the time of the alleged altercation, but details about the alleged victim are not yet known.
According to a radio report obtained by TMZ On Friday, Artem called 911 to seek medical attention, but he also claimed that Nikki threw shoes at him during the alleged incident.
‘Initially he came in with a request for medical help, but now he states that he got into an argument with his wife and her wife threw shoes at him [reporting party]’, the operator said in the conversation, according to the medium.
The dispatcher also said, “There is a child on scene. Medical en route. There is an active 415 [disturbing the peace] responsible in the background.’
On Monday, Garcia, 40, co-hosted Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef, a live Netflix event — her first public appearance since Chigvintsev’s arrest last week
Garcia and comedian Rob Riggle are in Las Vegas to host a hot dog eating contest between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi
“My fantastic co-host today is a successful athlete herself, WWE Hall of Famer, Nikki Garcia, everyone!” Riggle announced
Artem reportedly called 911 on Thursday after an alleged domestic violence incident, but picked up the message minutes later. TMZ was also reported on Friday.
Afterwards, the operator said over the radio: ‘RP indicates that no medical assistance is required at this time.’
Sources told the newspaper that the alleged victim did not call 911 herself, but that Chigvintsev did so around 8:30 a.m. because of alleged injuries to the victim.
However, the officers were on the scene when the professional dancer called 911 again, but they took back his earlier words.
According to protocol, the police remain on site, but the fire brigade and ambulance service were called back after they arrived on the scene.
When police arrived at the scene at 9:30 a.m., an hour after the first report was made, Artem was arrested.
Nikki Garcia’s rep told TMZ on Friday, when the former WWE wrestler broke her silence on the alleged incident, “This is a private matter and Nikki requests privacy for her and her family at this time.”
Officials with the Napa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the arrest to DailyMail.com, noting that officers saw clear physical evidence of domestic violence.
“When it comes to domestic violence, it’s not based on hearsay,” Napa County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Henry Wofford told Dailymail.com on Thursday. “The officers saw something that was clear.”
Nikki beamed as she held the comical hot dog-shaped trophy with winner Joey Chestnut
The WWE pro looked racy in a bright red sleeveless jumpsuit with her jet black hair down in loose waves
Chigvintsev was arrested Thursday in Napa, California, on suspicion of domestic violence. He was released from jail later that afternoon after his bail was set at $25,000.
Wofford explained, “I’m not telling you that this is what happened in this particular case, but sometimes there was blood, sometimes there was scratches, sometimes there was bruising.”
“It’s something visible, where the officers said, ‘Okay, we’re going to make this arrest.’”
Officers spoke to Chigvintsev and arrested him for domestic violence, Wofford told Dailymail.com on Thursday, adding that the dance pro was “cooperative” and “didn’t fight with our officers or anything like that.”
Wofford told Dailymail.com that Chigvintsev was booked into the Napa County Jail at 10:40 a.m. and his bail was set at $25,000.
Chigvintsev posted his bail around 2:15 p.m. and was no longer in custody Thursday evening, Wofford said.
Wofford told Dailymail.com that only one other person was involved in the incident, but he declined to identify the victim or provide details, despite their request.
Wofford said he was not aware of any protective orders filed by the victim or on their behalf by authorities as of Thursday evening.
“We’re going to take our time, as we do with every domestic violence case,” Wofford said. “No one gets preferential treatment and no one gets overlooked.”
“When it comes to victims of domestic violence, it is often the case that male and female victims are not fully prepared to tell the full story immediately after the incident. So we are not going to rush this… and we are also being patient.”
Wofford told Dailymail.com that the department was focused on providing “a support system for the victim.”
Wofford said an investigation is underway into whether Chigvintsev violated any laws in his conduct leading up to his arrest on Thursday.
Now that Artem has been arrested, a source told Page Six on Thursday that he will not return as a professional dancer on the 33rd season of Dancing With The Stars.
“Thank you Rob! Thank you everyone, I’m so happy to be here! And in about 40 minutes – oh I love you too!” she said during her introductions
Kobayashi (left), one of the most successful competitive eaters ever, was ultimately defeated by Chestnut
“There were no plans for Artem to be a part of Season 3,” the insider revealed to the outlet.
His arrest came just three days after he and Garcia celebrated their second wedding anniversary.
The two first met in 2017, when they starred together on the 25th season of Dancing With The Stars, but were eliminated in the sixth week.
In July 2020, Nikki and Artem welcomed their son Matteo, four. And two years later, the couple tied the knot in a romantic ceremony in Paris in August 2022, after several attempts to postpone the wedding.