Season 19 DWTS Alum Speaks Out About Artem Chigvintsev

Getty Images Lea Thompson talks about her experience with Artem Chigvintsev.

Season 19 “Dancing With the Stars” alum Lea Thompson spoke about Artem Chigvintsev in an interview with Cheryl Burke.

“It was hard working with him because it was his first year and it was a big deal to him,” Thompson said on the September 9 episode of the “Sex, Lies and Spray Tans” podcast. “He was so intense. It was so much more important to him than to me, honestly. And so that made me really nervous, made me crazy after a while,” she continued.

“It was also really really hard for me because I was a ballet dancer and a modern dancer. First day, he was like, ‘I’ve never taken any of that stuff, I’ve only taken ballroom.’ All this stuff that I knew, he knew none of that. I was never allowed to say, ‘Can I try this?’ He would get so mad at me,” she added.

Thompson and Chigvintsev finished the competition in 6th place. Chigvintsev was arrested on August 29 in Napa County, California. According to a booking report obtained by Heavy, he’s facing a felony charge on suspicion of corporal injury to spouse.

Lea Thompson Spoke Candidly About Her Time With Artem Chigvintsev on DWTS

Thompson went on to discuss specific times during rehearsals that Chigvintsev got very “mad” at her. And recalled one thing that he said that she couldn’t “believe.” At one point, she claims that the ballroom pro told her “that men are much better than women.”

Fans reacted to Thompson’s comments on a Reddit thread.

“I wonder if things like this are why Artem got cut both times but especially now. Way too many partners on both shows who struggled with his teaching style. It was always so obvious that he rarely made an effort to connect with his celeb on a personal level and failed/didn’t bother to see the fun side in both SCD & DWTS,” one person wrote.

“I listened last night and was sad Lea’s experience wasn’t a good one. I really enjoyed her on the show but always felt like something was off with her and Artem. Now I know why. The comment she made about Artem snapping at her in rehearsals for counting her steps seems to match what his Strictly partner said about him going off on her as well,” someone else added.

“I’m sorry to hear that her experience wasn’t very good and wouldn’t do the show again. Looking back, it feels like hardly any of Artems partners have had great things to say about him. Yet he seemed to get away with it for a long time with people just saying ‘he’s just serious about his craft,’ nope,” a third comment read.

“It broke my heart that she said that she wasn’t even sure he was ever her friend because it’s literally not amicable what was done to her by someone who should be a friend and confidant,” a fourth Redditor said.

Lea Thompson Said Artem Chigvintsev Unfollowed Her on Social Media

Thompson and Chigvintsev attempted to put on a show for the cameras, which got them fairly far in the competition. However, the two didn’t exactly become close. When Burke asked Thompson if she and her pro partner were friends, she responded, “I would want to think that we were friends, but I don’t. I don’t think so.”

She went on to say that she and Chigvintsev didn’t keep in touch after their season.

“Then I noticed that he unfollowed me,” she told Burke.

Thompson is the only former DWTS alum that has spoken out about Chigvintsev following his arrest. His season 29 partner Kaitlyn Bristowe addressed his arrest, but didn’t have much to say.

“My thought on this is that I am not going to say anything until they are ready to say something. They have asked for privacy and when people ask for privacy, I find media outlets and everybody has an opinion. My only thought is that domestic violence is so unacceptable and so scary and so sad. And I hope everybody’s okay. My heart goes out to little Matteo,” Bristowe said on her Instagram Stories.

“I’m just praying for all of them to either get better or to find peace and space and help and I just find this really tough to talk about ‘cuz it makes me very sad,” she added.

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