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Nikki Bella Says Her ‘World Got Shook’ When Artem Chigvintsev Left for ‘DWTS’: ‘We Were Such a Team’
Opening up. Nikki Bella admitted her “world got shook” when Artem Chigvintsev left to compete on Dancing With the Stars when their son, Matteo, was just four weeks old. She starting looking at her fiancé “differently” amid her struggle with postpartum depression.
“I wanted to be supportive,” the Total Bellas star, 36, explained to Katherine Schwarzenegger about Artem, 38, getting cast on DWTS during an Instagram Live on Thursday, November 12. “We were such a team — like through pregnancy and this pandemic [and] the first four weeks. I was just like, ‘I have a great thing going.’ When he left, my world got shook. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t do this on my own. Like, why did I say I could do this on my own?’”
Nikki noted that she tried to keep her “mouth shut” and “not be negative” because she was trying to “support” Artem. However, between Matteo having colic and teething at a young age, the WWE babe was starting to feel overwhelmed.
“I was trying to do so many things on my own and have no help. Artem was having the time of his life,” she continued. “Kind of where my depression was kicking in was not only did I miss my fiancé, I was trying to be a great mom. You really can’t help it. I think that’s the one thing I learned is it just happens, and so I knew I was kind of in that place.”
The Incomparable author confessed she felt like she was “starting to fall” as she watched Artem “smiling on live TV” with his “beautiful” partner Kaitlyn Bristowe, while Nikki was overtired from mom duties and “hating [her] body.”
“It was so hard,” Nikki added. “Brie [Bella] had shown me an article, like sometimes you can start to hate your partner. I’m like, ‘Brie, I think I’m there’ … I’m mad at him for all these things.”
Despite their romance feeling strained, Nikki and Artem are determined to keep their relationship strong. Nikki told Us Weekly on November 12 that she was the Russian dancer plan to go to couples therapy following his stint on season 29 of DWTS. “We have so many ups and downs,” the Arizona native explained. “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.”
She added, “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].”
Nikki and Artem are facing their struggles together!
