Heavy/Getty Nikki Garcia thinks Matteo will be "more ballroom."
Nikki Garcia, who competed on season 25 of “Dancing With the Stars,” has made a prediction about her son, Matteo, whom she shares with her husband, Artem Chigvintsev.
In an interview with Us Weekly, Garcia said that she thinks her now-2-year-old son is more likely to follow in his dad’s dancing footsteps than hers.
“I feel like he’ll be more ballroom,” she told the outlet when discussing whether or not she thought Matteo would become an athlete when he’s older. “Even though I see when he jumps off the couch and stuff that he could be [a wrestler], maybe. But I think, in the end, he’ll probably [do] baseball or soccer, but I would rather him be ballroom than wrestling,” she added.
Here’s what you need to know:
Nikki Garcia Has Noticed an Athletic Side to Matteo
When Matteo was just starting to walk, he was already showing an athletic slide. In fact, in 2022, Garcia shared a photo of Matteo kicking around a soccer ball.
“Baby boy already has the form! Like mother, like son. Already bending it like Beckham! I think we got a Pelé on our hands! #proudmama,” she captioned an Instagram post at the time.
Regardless how things shake out for Matteo in the future, his parents are both very competitive, which suggests that he will also have that tendency. Garcia and Chigvintsev are so competitive, in fact, that they decided to teach Matteo to say “I love you” as his first “word” rather than “mama” or “dada.”
“We decided not to teach him mom and dad as the first word because we’re so competitive with each other. Nicole said, ‘Why don’t we teach him: I love you?’ I’m not kidding to you. He is obviously not saying it in words, but he is [doing], like, the intonation of him saying that. It’s the most adorable thing ever,” Chigvintsev told Us Weekly in October 2020.
Fans Think Matteo Looks Just Like Artem Chigvintsev
Garcia and Chigvintsev met when they were paired together on “Dancing With the Stars.” The two became friends — Garcia was in a relationship with John Cena at the time — and dated a couple of years later.
Garcia and Chigvintsev welcomed Matteo in August 2020. “Our baby boy is here and we couldn’t be HAPPIER and more in LOVE! Everyone is safe and healthy,” Garcia captioned an Instagram post at the time.
Aside from inheriting some skills from his parents, fans say that Matteo has also inherited their good genes — and many feel that he looks just like his dad. In March 2023, Garcia couldn’t help but agree when she shared some pictures of Matteo wearing a yellow beanie.
“Matteo in that beanie is soooo a mini Artem lol,” she captioned an Instagram post.
As for expanding their family, Garcia and Chigvintsev have gone back and forth on the idea.
“We’re in such an incredible flow with Matteo and how he travels with us and our routine and it’s such a blessing, but looking at my sister’s life, how much it’s changed having two. She’s like, ‘Oh yeah girl, it’s different when you have two,’” Bella told E! News in January 2023.
“So we’re discussing it. I’m kind of like one and done. I’m happy with that, but we’ll see,” she added.
READ NEXT: DWTS Family Mourns the Loss of an Icon