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Brie Garcia Gives Update on Sister Nikki Garcia Amid Artem Chigvintsev Divorce
For 15 years, Nikki Garcia made a living showcasing her physical prowess in the wrestling arena. Her toughness and stamina were a given whenever she and sister Brie Garcia—known professionally as the Bella Twins—entered the ring.
Over this past month, however, Nikki has been tapping into a different reserve of strength.
Just three days after she and husband Artem Chigvintsev marked their second wedding anniversary on Aug. 26 with respective tender Instagram posts, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in Napa, Calif., where they have a home.
The case was dropped earlier this week, prosecutors announcing Sept. 24 that they were not filing charges against theDancing With the Starspro based on "careful evaluation of the evidence presented" to the Napa County District Attorney's Office.
But Nikki, who met Artem when she was paired with him on DWTS' 25th season in 2017, had already madeherlegal move: She filed for divorce Sept. 11, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason and asking for full legal and physical custody of their 4-year-old son, Matteo. She also listed their date of separation as the day Artem was arrested.
Artem countered with a filing for joint custody, and both he and Nikki have stated their intent to keep these proceedings private in the wake of their very public split.
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While Nikki is taking some time off from The Nikki & Brie Show podcast, she rallied for a work appearance four days after Artem's arrest, co-hosting Netflix's live "Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef" hotdog-eating event with Rob Riggle.
"Thank you, everyone," she told the audience. "I'm so happy to be here." When a fan offered up some supportive words from the crowd, Nikki turned toward the voice and said, "I love you, too."
She's been keeping a low profile since, her rep telling E! News Sept. 13, "She continues to ask for privacy for her and her family at this time."
More recently she was spotted with Brie doing some early Halloween shopping, the pair emerging from a Napa Valley store Sept. 20 with a cart-full of pumpkins.
Brie, meanwhile, is back behind the mic, telling listeners on the Sept. 23 return of The Nikki & Bella Show (the first new episode since Aug. 28) that her sister was focused on moving forward with Matteo and would be returning to the podcast soon.
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"Nikki isn’t here because, as you all know, she’s going through something personal in her life," Brie noted, "and she just asks for her privacy for her and her family, so we're going to give that. But she sees all the support and love."
Just as it's been forever with her big sister (by 16 minutes), in the ring or out, Brie has had Nikki's back.
While Nikki hasn't commented on the decision not to charge Artem, Brie seemingly offered a reaction: "The truth always comes out in the end, no matter how hard anyone tried to hide it or stop it," read a graphic she posted to her Instagram Story Sept. 25. "Lies are just a temporary delay to the inevitable."
Part of the inevitable, at least, is that the twins will reunite on their podcast and Nikki—who historically has been quite candid about the ups and downs of her relationship with Artem—will do what she thinks is best for her and her son.
"I would say motherhood and parenthood is definitely so much harder than I would have ever imagined just because you have two different people," the Total Bellas alum told E! News in July 2023. "Like, you're already trying to make a marriage work, we're already merging that."
But admittedly she and Artem "did things a little different," Nikki continued. "We had the kid first and then marriage—so trying to be on the same page with everything, it's difficult, and definitely something we work on."
Keep reading for the details on what happened with Artem's arrest and Nikki's decision to separate that very day:
Napa County Department of Corrections
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Instagram/Nikki Garcia
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JOCE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
