This ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Champion Thought Their Pro Partner Didn’t Like Them

ABC/Eric McCandless

During any given season of Dancing With the Stars, professional dancers are teamed up with celebrities who they may or may not be familiar with prior to the beginning of the season. In the case of season 29 mirrorball champion Kaitlyn Bristowe and pro dancer Artem Chigvintsev, the former Bachelorette didn’t believe the dancer liked her as a person during the season.

During an episode of her Off The Vine podcast where Chigvintsev’s fiance, Nikki Bella, was a guest, Bristowe opened up about her experience on season 29 of the show.

“Tell me, was Artem… Did you feel like he hated your guts during the season, or did you guys have, like, a flirty thing?” Bristowe asked.

Bella said she didn’t have a flirty relationship with Chigvintsev during her season on the show, and she didn’t actually even like him that much at the time.

“He kind of made a comment about my jive and got really mad at me,” she said. “And I was like, ‘You know what, dude? J.Lo and Beyonce don’t jive. I don’t have time for this.’ And I walked out and I got in my car. I remember at the time calling John [Cena] going like, ‘I am quitting. Like, I am not going to stand for this. He is a d***.”

Bristowe Thought Chigvintsev Did Not Like Her

Bristowe shared personal experiences about what she felt when she was with Chigvintsev in the ballroom.

“I’m glad because I was like, maybe he just didn’t like me at all as a person,” she said. “Because I’ve heard all the dancers are like that – very strict, that’s kind of how they grew up in their world of dancing, that’s how they were taught – and Artem even said to me, ‘I don’t want to use Russia as an excuse, but I’m Russian.'”

The couple had a lot of chemistry on the dance floor, however, so Chigvintsev’s teaching techniques paid off.

Bella and Chigvintsev go to Couple’s Therapy

Bella shared that one thing Chigvintsev is working on is realizing the tone he takes with people when he’s upset.

“We’re actually in therapy for this,” she said. “I remember, like, even during dress rehearsals, sometimes I’d be like, ‘Is he mad at me?’ It’d make me feel really off. And it’d just be his tone.”

During an episode of Total Bellas, Bella talked about feeling jealous of Bristowe for the time she was able to spend with Chigvintsev in the ballroom.

“He has a really hot partner, they have really great chemistry, they’re always together,” she said. “And now we kind of feel like we f***ed up.”

Bella told the camera privately that she was jealous when she saw how much her boyfriend smiled while competing and how happy he looked when she felt like she had a hard time making him that happy at home.

“I’m honestly about to crack,” she said at one point in the episode. “I’d do anything to have him back.”

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