The toddler son of “Dancing With the Stars” pro Artem Chigvintsev and his wife, “Total Bellas” star Nikki Bella, didn’t meet his paternal grandparents until he was 2-years-old.
However, the moment when Matteo and his dad’s parents finally met for the first time was filmed for the couple’s wedding special “Nikki Bella Says I Do.” Before Bella and Chigvintsev’s wedding in Paris, Chigvintsev took a trip to Turkey to meet up with his parents, Vladimir and Anna, who live in Russia.
The emotional video showed a shy Matteo, who actually cried when he first met his grandparents. After settling in and spending some time with them, he calmed down and even let his grandfather hold him. “Well, I guess my dad’s a charmer,” Chigvintsev joked on the show. The ballroom pro loved seeing his parents interact with his son and said it’s a moment he will “remember forever.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Artem Chigvintsev Shared a Clip of the Moment on Instagram
Chigvintsev posted a clip of the moment that he got to see his parents for the first time as a dad himself. He embraced his mom and then his dad and told them that Matteo was upset because he wanted to “run.” Once Chigvintsev put Matteo down, he was all smiles as he ran around.
“Seeing my Parents and Matteo together for the very first time was a very special moment,” Chigvintsev captioned the Instagram post on February 6, 2023. Bella also loved watching her husband’s parents meet her son.
“My heart. No matter how many times I watch this it always gets me. Love you all so much,” she commented on the video. Many others commented on the post as well, truly enjoying watching the moment unfold.
“This is reallly [sic] special babe,” Chigvintsev’s fellow ballroom pro Peta Murgatroyd wrote.
“I love how this changed the perspective of how you remember your childhood… it’s unbelievable the grace being a parent can bring to our own parents. Sending you all the love,” said “Dancing With the Stars” alum Ginger Zee.
Chigvintsev’s best man Gleb Savchenko dropped one red heart emoji in the comments while his other friend Pasha Pashkov posted three.
Artem Chigvintsev Says It’s ‘Ludicrous’ His Parents Didn’t Meet Matteo Before He Was 2
In the premiere episode of “Nikki Bella Says I Do,” Chigvintsev opened up about the fact that his parents hadn’t ever met his only son. Between the pandemic and the ongoing unrest in Russia, it made it impossible for a meeting to happen sooner than it did.
“It’s been challenging because you feel like you’ve been cut off from that world which has been really frustrating. Sometimes I feel helpless,” he said, according to People magazine.
Chigvintsev really wanted his parents to attend his wedding, but he also really wanted them to meet their grandson.
“I can’t believe my parents haven’t even held my son,” he said on the show. “It’s not normal. It’s ludicrous that that’s the case. God forbid if my parents never meet my son in person, that would be the most devastating thing. You can never get that back.”
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DWTS Pro Says He Will Remember Special Moment With His Son ‘Forever’