Artem Chigvintsev and his wife, Nikki Garcia, reportedly had paramedics called to their home before he was arrested for domestic battery. Per TMZ, an unnamed person called emergency first responders at around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 29, for a “medical emergency.” However, the unidentified individual called the paramedics back to cancel the request before they could arrive.
Later that morning, Chigvintsev, 42, was reportedly arrested for felony corporal injury to spouse or cohabitant. The Dancing With the Stars pro was booked on a felony domestic violence charge at the Napa County jail in Napa County, California, according to TMZ. Per online jail records viewed by Hollywood Life, Chigvintsev was arrested at 9:59 a.m. local time and booked at 10:40 a.m. His bail was set for $25,000.
According to the online jail records, Chigvintsev was released at 2:18 p.m. on August 29. He has not publicly spoken out about his arrest.
It’s unclear what led to the ABC personality’s arrest or if his wife, Garcia, was involved in any way. Last week, the spouses celebrated their second wedding anniversary. Three days before his arrest, Chigvintsev shared a photo from his and Garcia’s wedding to Instagram. In his caption, he called the retired wrestler his “everything.”
“Happy anniversary my love, can’t see my life without you,” the Strictly Come Dancing alum wrote. “You are my everything.”
In response to her husband’d post, Garcia, 40, commented, “Happy Anniversary, Click. Love you so much!”
For her part, Garcia shared an anniversary tribute as well. On Tuesday, August 27, she posted an Instagram video montage of her and Chigvintsev’s best memories with their son, Matteo, and moments from their wedding ceremony. For her caption, the Total Bellas alum included the lyrics to Elvis Presley‘s famous song “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
“This song is our love story,” Garcia wrote. “I’ll never forget where I was when I asked Jesus about Artem. Having a conversation with He & God. How my feelings felt too soon. It all felt too fast. And then this song came on. And that’s when I knew that I was falling in love with him and that it was all meant to be. Happy Anniversary @theartemc I love you [sic]!”
DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba commented on Garcia’s video, writing, “I love you two and your love. congratulations on your anniversary. Wishing you eternal love and happiness [sic].”
Garcia and Chigvintsev first met in 2017 after being partnered on DWTS for its 25th season. Garcia was engaged to ex John Cena at the time. The following year, Garcia and Cena called off their engagement and broke up. In early 2019, she and Chigvintsev started dating, and they got engaged one year later. In July 2020, they welcomed their now-4-year-old child, and they tied the knot in August 2022.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
