How Nikki Bella Went from the WWE to Dating a ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pro

Artem Chigvintsev Nikki Bella

Getty Artem Chigvintsev and Nikki Bella pack on the PDA on the red carpet.

Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev are slowly emerging as a power couple in the Dancing With the Stars and reality TV space. Bella started her professional career as a professional wrestler in 2007 and eventually made her way into the DWTS ballroom, allowing her to meet her current fiance.

Nikki Bella split from her former fiance, John Cena, in July 2018. Seven months later, Us Weekly revealed that she was in a relationship with Artem Chigvintsev and had been dating him for quite some time.

The couple met when Bella was partnered with Chigvintsev when she was on Dancing With the Stars, but their relationship started after her time on the show, as she was still in a relationship with Cena at the time.


Bella and Chigvintsev Began Dating in 2018

Though Bella confirmed her relationship with Chigvintsev publicly in early 2019, the couple began dating earlier than that, Us Weekly reported.

Her relationship with the professional dancer was confirmed on an episode of her reality show, Total Bellas. In the episode, she was seen jumping on Chigvintsev’s motorcycle.

“I just feel like this free spirit,” she said at the time. “Truly like a butterfly out of her cage. I don’t know. I have this new level of excitement. I’m just having a lot of fun. And I feel like, for the first time ever, I’m focusing on me. It’s crazy.”

She continued, “I never in my life would’ve thought that, like, I would’ve had a lot in common with a Russian. I’m ready to really explore new things and people and just really see what certain chemistries are all about.”

The couple has one child together now, and they plan on getting married in 2021.


Bella and Chigvintsev Will be Headed to Couple’s Therapy

In a new interview with Us Weekly, Artem Chigvintsev’s fiancee Nikki Bella opened up about their relationship and shared that they are planning on going to couple’s therapy.

“I would be lying to say ‘Oh, it’s great’,” she said. “It has definitely been a struggle for us. It’s hard. We have so many ups and downs. It’s been so difficult on our relationship because I need so much from him, but he’s, like, torn between his job that requires so much from him and then us at home.”

Bella also said that she experienced postpartum depression following the birth of their son, Matteo, who was born in July 2020. This prompted her twin sister to approach Chigvintsev to tell him that his fiancee needed more from him than he was giving at the time.

“I just told him, like, ‘I need more attention from you,’ and that is something we’ve worked on, and that’s gotten better,” the Total Bellas star told Us Weekly. “Artem and I have great communication, but it’s been lacking, but that’s something that we’ve been so strong about in our relationship [in the past].”

She shared that the couple’s life coach was the one who told them they should consider couple’s therapy.

Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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