Chigvintsev shares a young son with Nikki Garcia.
“It completely ruined everything for me,” Chigvintsev said on a recent episode ofThe Glamorous Grind Podcast.
“It completely ruined everything for me.
Artem Chigvintsev rehearses for ‘Dancing With the Stars’ in October 2023.Credit:JOCE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
From every angle, it ruined my life completely.”
See the moment at about 24 minutes into the video below.
Then he wasarrested on suspicion of domestic violenceat his and Garcia’s home last August.
Nikki Garcia and Artem Chigvintsev attend an event in 2019.Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
“When a person has a mugshot, " he said, “you’re guilty immediately.”
Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
Two weeks after Chigvintsev’s arrest, Garciafiled for divorce.
Both parties initially sought and were granted restraining orders against one another.
They also both pursued custody of their young son, Matteo.
They agreed on a settlement, enabling them to avoid a showdown in court, in November.
“Divorce was just one of the things I was facing at the time,” Chigvintsev answered.
“I mean, there was a criminal charge.
I was cut off from every outlet of support, except for maybe my parents.
Like, I was cut out from every angle.
Sometimes people go through divorce, but they have their job…and have their friends.
There’s still certain support.
I didn’t have a family support, because that was cut off.
My work was cut off.
And then, on top of it, there was a criminal case.”
As for his work, Chigvintsev was not part of theDancing With the Starscycle that aired in the fall.
Garcia has described an utterly painful time, too.
“It’s been really tough.
I’ve been heartbroken.
And you go from having a great love story to having a terrible one.
