ABC/Eric McCandless
Artem Chigvintsev and Nikki Bella welcomed their first child, Matteo, just months before the professional dancer left home to compete on Season 29 of Dancing With the Stars.
While Chigvintsev was gone, constantly rehearsing and competing with his celebrity partner Kaitlyn Bristowe, Bella was dealing with the difficulties of being a first-time mother without her boyfriend at home to help. During a recent episode of Total Bellas, she opened up about how hard it was and how she felt about Chigvintsev being away from home for months while competing.
“I think it’s so hard for me to ask Artem when I need him because I pushed him to fight for his dreams, and now he’s doing that and I don’t want to be that nagging woman where I’m b****ing and complaining about everything,” Bella told her sister during the episode. ” also don’t think he could handle dancing and everything I’m going through, which kind of sucks. I kind of want him to be done, but it’s his dream, so it’s not my decision.”
Bella Was Dealing With Postpartum Depression
While Chigvintsev was competing on Season 29 of Dancing With the Stars, his girlfriend was struggling with postpartum depression that was so severe that her doctor wanted her to take medication for it.
The former wrestler shared that she had not been sleeping well since she welcomed Matteo into the world and was struggling with the demands of being a mother.
“It’s been so f****ing hard,” Bella told her twin sister. “I’m trying to keep it together and I’m about to lose it. I’m about to have a massive breakdown, and I could tell the doctor could tell yesterday. She came in and she’s like, ‘I think I need to medicate you,’ and I’m like, ‘I don’t want to be medicated.'”
She said her doctor was very worried about her.
Bella And Chigvintsev Argued After She Bought a Home Without Consulting Him
During the episode, Chigvintsev learned that Bella had purchased a home in the Napa Valley without telling him, and he was upset with her for the decision.
“I’m kind of shocked by Artem’s reaction because I thought, ‘Wait, I’m supporting you on living your dream,'” she said in a confessional. “Support me on living mine. It’s really hard doing this all on my own. I think what’s hard is when the person isn’t recognizing what’s going on, like you’re screaming inside but he’s not hearing it. And you just wish he could ask you if you’re okay.”
Bella also struggled with jealousy while Chigvintsev was gone because his partner on the show was the beautiful Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe and they obviously had plenty of chemistry on the ballroom floor.
“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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