Nikki Bella Says She Called John Cena During ‘DWTS’ Rehearsals to Say Now-Fiance Artem Was ‘a D–k’

Honesty hour! Nikki Bella recalled calling John Cena when her now-fiancé, Artem Chigvintsev, was being “a d—k” while they were partners on Dancing With the Stars together. She got very candid while speaking with Kaitlyn Bristowe on her “Off the Vine” podcast on Wednesday, January 27.

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“Tell me, was Artem … Did you feel like he hated your guts during the season, or did you guys have a flirty thing?” the former Bachelorette, 35, who won season 29 of DWTS with Artem, 38, asked the Total Bellas star, 37. 

“He kind of made a comment about my jive and got really mad at me,” Nikki explained. “And I was like, ‘You know what, dude? J.Lo and Beyoncé don’t jive and I don’t have time for this … And I walked out. And I got in my car and I remember at the time calling [former fiancé] John and going, ‘I’m quitting. I’m not going to stand for this. He’s a d–k.'”

However, the Total Divas alum noted the Russian stud is actually very serious when it comes to work. “I remember during dress rehearsals sometimes I’d be like, ‘Is he mad at me?’” Nikki continued. “It would make me feel really off. It would just be his tone. It was hard, it was hard on me a lot.”

The Incomparable author, who split from John, 43, in 2018, and Artem got engaged in November 2019 and welcomed their first child, son Matteo, in July 2020. Nikki admitted the two are now seeing a therapist due to some misunderstandings in their communication.

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“When he gets really stressed, he doesn’t realize his tone. We’re actually in therapy for this,” the Arizona native said.

Nikki said in November she and her man were planning to go to counseling following season 29 of DWTS. “It’s hard. We have so many ups and downs,” she told Us Weekly at the time. “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.”

It looks like Nikki and Artem are all in on making their relationship work!