Nikki Garcia’s divorce from Artem Chigvintsev was “a very long time” coming.
The retired skilled wrestler confessed to “Nikki & Brie Show” podcast listeners Monday that she had beforehand been “play[ing] up” her relationship with the dancer within the public eye.
“I needed [him] to heal. I needed [him] to get assist … as a result of that’s what my son, [Matteo] deserves,” she defined throughout her emotional return to the podcast after months away.
“It’s unhappy,” Garcia added. “[The relationship] hasn’t been nice for a very long time. I actually performed it up like issues have been rather a lot higher than they have been within the public eye. I felt like, ‘If I can simply put this individual on a pedestal … possibly they’ll consider that in themselves.’
“I didn’t need one other failed public relationship,” she continued, referencing her on-again, off-again romance with former fiancé John Cena.
After splitting for good from the actor in 2018, Garcia moved on with Chigvintsev and married him 4 years later.
The former “Dancing With the Stars” professional, 42, was arrested in August on felony home violence expenses — which have been dropped the next month.
Garcia filed for divorce on the time, requesting full authorized and bodily custody of their 4-year-old son, Matteo.
As the exes’ custody battle continues to play out, they settled their divorce in November.
Garcia feels “heartbroken” and “betrayed,” telling podcast listeners Monday that she has needed to “mourn” the household she envisioned for herself.
“You go from having an amazing love story to having a horrible one,” she defined. “Never noticed any of it coming so far as what the ending could be. It’s been a wrestle.”
The athlete admitted to having a “powerful” time within the wake of their breakup, stressing her concentrate on “therapeutic.”
She went on to make clear that she doesn’t have “regrets” over how she acted throughout the tumultuous romance.
“I got here at it with love,” Garcia stated. “The day Matteo desires to sit down and speak about it, I’ve all of the proof that I attempted to deal with all the things with love and care. All I needed to do was to guard [him].”
Her sister, Brie Garcia, confirmed that Nikki doesn’t “care” about adverse headlines or “lies” about her habits regardless of being “shocked” to see allegations made about her.
The dancer, notably, claimed Nikki abused him in a September submitting, along with his lawyer calling her the “major aggressor.”
Brie, 41, subsequently shaded Chigvintsev with an Instagram put up about “the reality at all times com[ing] out ultimately.”
On Monday, she praised her sibling for staying off of social media and “maintain[ing] issues so non-public when [she] didn’t need to.”
