Artem Chigvintsev just opened up about the week his life went from zero to chaos, and he did it in a way he almost never has. On Peta Murgatroyd and Sharna Burgess' podcast 'Penthouse With Peta,' the longtime Dancing With the Stars pro talked through getting dropped from the show, an arrest, and a divorce filing that all hit within days. It is a lot, even by reality-TV-adjacent standards.
The week everything flipped
- August 2024: Chigvintsev, 43, says he was cut from Dancing With the Stars.
- Right after that, he was arrested for alleged domestic violence. Those charges were later dropped.
- About a week later, Nikki Garcia, 42, filed for divorce. Their settlement was finalized in November 2024.
He called that stretch a bad dream and admitted he basically shut himself off to get through it. Processing anything wasn't happening; it was survival mode.
Would he do anything differently?
Short answer: no. He says it felt inevitable he would end up where he needed to, and he leans on the idea that everything happens for a reason. He also admitted that left to his own devices, he probably never would have left the marriage. The Russian-born dancer was raised to work through problems — his parents are still together — and that mindset would have kept him in it.
Father first, even if it hurts
A big part of why he would have stayed? Their son, Matteo, who is 5. Chigvintsev says he wants his kid to have a 'full family ' and believes both parents need to be present. He was blunt about the realities of dating as a single dad too: anyone new in his life is never going to have the same built-in love for Matteo that his mom does. Not romantic, maybe, but honest.
DWTS left a hole — and he is not sure he can fill it right now
Chigvintsev spent 12 seasons as a DWTS pro before getting cut ahead of season 33, and he admits nothing has replaced that DWTS-sized hole yet. But as a single parent, he is realistic about what the job demands versus what his son needs.
'I don't want to half ass the show and I don't want to half ass being a father.'
That said, if the show called, he would at least hear them out.
Where he is now
The podcast chat — part one of a two-parter — was one of his rare times really addressing the messy end of the relationship. He also recently bought a $915,000 home after the divorce, which tells you he is trying to put down some new roots even if some pieces are still unsettled.
It is a candid portrait of someone who had a lot hit at once: cut from a career-defining gig, arrested on allegations that were later dropped, then divorced — and now recalibrating life around a 5-year-old first and everything else second.