Nikki Garcia is addressing her divorce from Artem Chigvintsev for the first time.
“I’ve been heartbroken,” Nikki, 41, said during the Monday, December 2, episode of “The Nikki & Brie Show” podcast. “You dream of having this family and you have this incredible love, and it just goes the other way. You go from having a great love story to having a terrible one.”
Monday’s episode marked Nikki’s return to the podcast she hosts with her twin sister, Brie Garcia, following the drama between her and ex-husband Chigvintsev, 42, which included his arrest and their split. Nikki told listeners that the past few months have “been really tough” — and explained her absence from the public eye.
“I disconnected from social media, from the world, and I just knew that I needed to disconnect because first things first, I’m a mom and my son’s protection and privacy is the most important,” she explained. “I was going to do whatever it took for that most importantly, and then just needing space for healing, for facing trauma head-on.”
Us Weekly confirmed in August that Chigvintsev was arrested for domestic battery and booked on a felony domestic violence charge following an apparent altercation with Nikki in Napa. One week later, they both filed for divorce. Nikki sought full custody of their 4-year-old son, Matteo, while Chigvintsev requested joint custody. (They also filed for restraining orders against each other.)
Artem Chigvintsev and Nikki Bella Cassidy Sparrow/Getty Images
In November, Us confirmed that Nikki and Chigvintsev settled their divorce.
“Nikki and Artem have settled their divorce and will not be going to court,” Nikki’s rep shared in a statement. “Both parties decided to drop the domestic violence restraining orders against each other in an effort to move on with their lives and effectively coparent their son.”
During Monday’s podcast episode, Nikki said that she “never” expected her marriage to end like this.
“It’s been a struggle,” she said. “I know being a public figure, I have to say a little bit about this, right? After this, I don’t want to ever talk about [it] again, because I truly do want privacy for Matteo. That has been the most important part.”
Nikki said she has been “so shocked” over the past few months as the drama surrounding her split continued.
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“You sit there, and you go, I shared my life with this person. I thought it was so different,” she said. “Just to see what someone can do. You know, we’re a family. No matter what, at the end of the day, even when two people divorce, if you have children, you’re still a family.”
Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev David Livingston/Getty Images
The entire situation has “been heartbreaking” for Nikki, who said that she loses her appetite and cries a lot. Despite the challenges of navigating her divorce, Nikki is still putting her son first.
“This whole situation’s been really just hard to wrap my head around it. I never would have thought,” she added. “You couldn’t have told me how the ending of my 2024 would have been. I would have thought you were crazy. But the one thing that I have realized disconnecting from the world, when you know the truth, nothing else matters.”