Nikki Garcia has finally revealed her split from Artem Chigvintsev, three months after their marital problems first came to light.
The WWE alum, 41, filed for divorce from Artem, 42, in September, shortly after an alleged altercation between them led to his arrest for domestic violence. They share four-year-old son Matteo together.
On the podcast, Garcia admitted that she had portrayed their relationship on social media as the perfect marriage, despite it not being so, and that they had been plagued by issues for a “long time” leading up to the dispute that led to their split.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been disconnecting from social media and the world, and I just knew I had to disconnect because first and foremost, I’m a mother and my son’s protection and privacy are the most important things,” she said. the podcast she hosts with twin sister Bella, The Nikki & Brie Showwhen she returned to the show for the first time in over three months.
“I would do whatever it took, especially because I needed space for healing, for facing trauma head-on.”
‘It’s been tough. It’s been very tough. I’m devastated. Sad,” she said.
A ‘heartbroken’ Nikki Garcia has finally opened up about her split from Artem Chigvintsev, months after their issues first broke out
“You dream of having this family and you have this incredible love, but it just goes the other way. You go from a great love story to a terrible love story.”
“I never saw any of it coming, whatever the ending would be. It’s been a struggle,” she continued.
“I know because I’m a public figure I have to say something about this, right?” she said, adding that she “never” wanted to talk about the tragedy again to protect her son’s privacy.
“That’s been the most important thing,” she said of her son’s privacy. “But obviously I’ve been in a public relationship, I’m a public figure, so I need to talk about what’s going on, right? Just a little bit.
“But I want to continue to protect Matteo in that way because that’s the hardest part of all of this and that’s so heartbreaking.”
Garcia had no idea how much suffering she could endure: “I didn’t know your heart could break so many times in such a short time,” she said.
Garcia was so devoted to Chigvintsev that she would have “taken a bullet” for him.
But ultimately, she felt “betrayed” by the person she “would have done anything” for.
“If there was a woman in my situation, which a lot of women have, right? If anyone is listening even now, when you love someone so much, what I did was walk down the aisle and say yes because I loved this person so much, I would have done anything for them.
Garcia was so devoted to Chigvintsev that she would have “taken a bullet” for him
“I wanted to breathe my last breath to the world and I would have taken a bullet for them. And when something like this happens and you feel betrayed, you just try to figure it out.
‘The whole day was just shocking. I handled things with a lot of love and grace because I loved this person so much. “I still wanted great things for them, I wanted them to heal, I wanted them to get help, I wanted them to be the best versions of themselves because that’s what my son deserves too.”
Garcia wanted to avoid speaking ill of Chigvintsev for the sake of their son.
“I don’t want to drag my son’s father because I want my son to have the best father ever because that’s what Matteo deserves. So I tried to deal with this whole situation even though I was in so much pain. I was just trying to do what was best for everyone, but that would turn against me. “Oh, she’s fine”, “oh this” or “oh that”.
And she admitted that things had not been going well in their relationship for “a long time” and that she had portrayed their marriage as one that was perfect, even though it wasn’t.
She also felt pressure to show a perfect union after previously going through a public split
“When it comes to our relationship, it’s sad, it just hasn’t been that good for a long time,” she admitted.
“And I really for a long time played it like things were a lot better than what they were in the public eye, which I regret because what I felt like was, if I can just put this person on the closet pedestal, and if this person hears enough of what I believe in them, maybe they can believe it in themselves, too.”
Garcia believed that her public praise may have been more effective in reaching Chigvintsev because she did not feel ‘heard’ at home.”
“I think we were just out in public and I felt like I wasn’t being heard at home, so maybe… he would hear me out loud in the public eye?” she wondered.
Garcia wanted to avoid speaking ill of Chigvintsev for the sake of their son Matteo
She also felt pressure to show a perfect union after previously going through a public split.
“That yes, and I didn’t want another failed public relationship,” she said, apparently referring to her ex John Cena.
“And more than that, take it away, I wanted it for Matteo,” she explained. “It always comes back to him.”
“You fight for your kids, you want to stay together because that’s what the kids want, right? I tried really hard, and in the end we both didn’t bring out the best in each other and we probably should have walked away a long time ago, so what ended up happening wouldn’t have happened.” she said.
Nikki, pictured in 2021, admitted things had not been going well in their relationship for ‘a long time’
Chigvintsev was arrested on August 29 in Yountville, California and charged with domestic violence following an alleged incident with Garcia, but prosecutors in Napa County ultimately decided not to file criminal charges in the case.
Chigvintsev’s attorney has since claimed that the DWTS alum was not the “primary aggressor” in the dispute with Garcia and released photos of the injuries the dancer’s then-husband allegedly inflicted on him.
The altercation occurred just three days after the former couple celebrated their two-year wedding anniversary.
Garcia later filed for divorce and unsuccessfully requested sole custody of their son Matteo, with the couple issuing temporary restraining orders against each other. The restraining order was ultimately dismissed and their divorce has now been finalized.