Nikki Garcia’s Ex Artem Chigvintsev Says Domestic Violence Arrest ‘Ruined’ His Life

Artem Chigvintsev was arrested for domestic violence in August, but he was never charged with a crime. Now, he’s speaking out and saying the experience “ruined” his life. 

The former “Dancing with the Stars” pro and his wife Nikki Garcia have since split and settled their divorce. They share custody of son Matteo, 4.

Chigvintsev spoke out on the “Glamorous Grind” podcast on February 18, describing the fallout after the arrest.

He explained, “I was cut off from every single outlet of support, except for maybe my parents. I was cut out from every angle, like, sometimes people go through divorce but they have their job, they have their close ones, they have their friends, there is still certain support. I didn’t have a family support because that was cut off, my work was cut off, and then — on top of it — there was a criminal case.”

Artem later added of the arrest, “It completely ruined everything for me. From every angle, it ruined my life completely. The worst part of all of this was because the [district attorney] dropped the case, clearly stating there was nothing they could possibly have charged me on.”

When asked about his mug shot being widely circulated, he said, “When people see that mug shot, for them, in their mind, you are immediately guilty. There is nothing you can say or try to justify yourself to change their minds.”

Artem and Nikki settled their divorce in November, and he said, “I wanted it to be over. I needed to go back to live my life, and I need to move on — emotionally, financially — and I just wanted my life to be normal again.”

Just because they quickly finalized the split didn’t mean he had closure.

“It’s a seven-year relationship,” he said. “I didn’t stop loving a person that day and I just moved on. It wasn’t my decision to get divorced. Until the last moment I was still like, ‘Maybe we should do therapy, maybe we should try to figure something out.’ My ideal scenario is keeping the family together.”

He called the whole experience “dramatic” and “draining,” but said it was “relief” once the divorce was over because he was able to have joint custody of his son.

In December, Nikki opened up about the split on “The Nikki & Brie Show” podcast. She said at the time, “It’s been really tough. I’ve been heartbroken. Sad. You know, you dream of having this family and you have this incredible love, and it just goes the other way. And you go from having a great love story to having a terrible one. And I never saw any of it coming, you know, as far as, like, what the ending would be.”

Nikki said she has tried to handle the legal proceedings with Matteo in mind.

Garcia explained, “I tried to handle this whole situation even though I was in so much pain. I was just trying to do what was best for everyone… I do want to continue to protect Matteo in those ways because that’s what’s been the hardest part about all this, and that’s been so heartbreaking. I didn’t know that your heart can break that many times in such a short period of time.”

As for her marriage, she confessed, Iit hasn’t been great for a long time.”

“I really played it up [that] things were a lot better than what they were in the public eye, which I have regrets in that because what I felt was, like, if I can just put this person on a pedestal and maybe if this person hears it enough, what I believe in them, they can believe that in themselves,” she said.

Meanwhile, “Extra” just spoke with Nikki and her twin sister Brie over Super Bowl weekend, and they opened up about what’s next for them. Watch.