Not afraid to get real. Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev haven’t shied away from getting candid about their romance over the years.
The former WWE star and the dancer made their relationship official in January 2019 after meeting on the set of Dancing With the Stars. The Russia native served as Bella’s partner in season 25 of the ABC series, which aired in 2017. At the time, the Confessions of a Womanizer actress was engaged to John Cena. Bella and and Chigvintsev finished the season in seventh place.
After going public with their romance, the Total Bellas alum admitted that the twosome weren’t yet exclusive. “There’s been a lot of speculation about us … but I’m still dating [other people],” she explained on an episode of “The Bellas Podcast” in March 2019. “We’re having fun. He’s showing me L.A.”
Four months later, Chigvintsev confirmed that the duo were officially calling each other “boyfriend and girlfriend” after more than half a year without labels. “We’re in a relationship!” he gushed during an appearance on “The Bellas Podcast.”
In January 2020, the couple announced their engagement, revealing that it had actually taken place in November 2019. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” the DTWS pro wrote via Instagram at the time. “So excited for what’s to come I love you more then [sic] anything and thank you for saying Yes.”
Shortly after they broke their engagement news, Us Weekly confirmed that the pair were expecting their first child together. The California native and the Strictly Come Dancing alum welcomed son Matteo in July 2020.
The Total Divas alum later opened up about her struggle with postpartum depression after the little one’s birth. “I’ve always prided myself that I can fight a lot of things mentally,” she explained during an episode of “The Bellas Podcast” in September 2020. “I’m very strong in that way. Postpartum has knocked me on my ass. This is something that is way different.”
Bella admitted that one of the things that suffered the most during her depression was her relationship with Chigvintsev. “He’s like, ‘At times, I felt like you were starting to hate me,’” she recalled at the time. “He’s like, ‘You could be mean.’ And I’m not gonna lie, I did have moments of being mean. I did have moments when I looked at him and I hated him. It’s true. There were times I’d look at him and I’m like, ‘I think I hate you.’”
In 2021, the former wrestler revealed that she and her fiancé had been going to couples therapy — and it made a massive difference in their lives.
“It’s helped us tremendously,” the reality star exclusively told Us in March of that year. “We don’t even have to keep going because it’s — I mean, it’s good to always have checkups — but all of a sudden, our sessions turned into, like, you just sit there. You’re like, ‘Oh, I’m really loving right now. Like, there’s no problems.’ It’s like we didn’t know what to talk about.”
Keep scrolling for Bella and Chigvintsev’s most candid quotes about their relationship:
Credit: Courtesy of Artem Chigvintsev/Instagram
Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev’s Most Honest Quotes About Their Relationship
Not afraid to get real. Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev haven’t shied away from getting candid about their romance over the years.
The former WWE star and the dancer made their relationship official in January 2019 after meeting on the set of Dancing With the Stars. The Russia native served as Bella’s partner in season 25 of the ABC series, which aired in 2017. At the time, the Confessions of a Womanizer actress was engaged to John Cena. Bella and and Chigvintsev finished the season in seventh place.
After going public with their romance, the Total Bellas alum admitted that the twosome weren’t yet exclusive. “There’s been a lot of speculation about us … but I’m still dating [other people],” she explained on an episode of “The Bellas Podcast” in March 2019. “We’re having fun. He’s showing me L.A.”
Four months later, Chigvintsev confirmed that the duo were officially calling each other “boyfriend and girlfriend” after more than half a year without labels. “We’re in a relationship!” he gushed during an appearance on “The Bellas Podcast.”
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In January 2020, the couple announced their engagement, revealing that it had actually taken place in November 2019. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” the DTWS pro wrote via Instagram at the time. “So excited for what’s to come I love you more then [sic] anything and thank you for saying Yes.”
Shortly after they broke their engagement news, Us Weekly confirmed that the pair were expecting their first child together. The California native and the Strictly Come Dancing alum welcomed son Matteo in July 2020.
The Total Divas alum later opened up about her struggle with postpartum depression after the little one’s birth. “I’ve always prided myself that I can fight a lot of things mentally,” she explained during an episode of “The Bellas Podcast” in September 2020. “I’m very strong in that way. Postpartum has knocked me on my ass. This is something that is way different.”
Bella admitted that one of the things that suffered the most during her depression was her relationship with Chigvintsev. “He’s like, ‘At times, I felt like you were starting to hate me,’” she recalled at the time. “He’s like, ‘You could be mean.’ And I’m not gonna lie, I did have moments of being mean. I did have moments when I looked at him and I hated him. It’s true. There were times I’d look at him and I’m like, ‘I think I hate you.’”
In 2021, the former wrestler revealed that she and her fiancé had been going to couples therapy — and it made a massive difference in their lives.
“It’s helped us tremendously,” the reality star exclusively told Us in March of that year. “We don’t even have to keep going because it’s — I mean, it’s good to always have checkups — but all of a sudden, our sessions turned into, like, you just sit there. You’re like, ‘Oh, I’m really loving right now. Like, there’s no problems.’ It’s like we didn’t know what to talk about.”
Keep scrolling for Bella and Chigvintsev’s most candid quotes about their relationship:
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Credit: Courtesy of Nikki Bella/Instagram
Trademark Candor
During an October 2019 appearance on “The Lady Gang” podcast, Bella commented on her sex life with Chigvintsev. “The vagina smiles every time,” she joked.
Credit: Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
A Hyphenated Future
In April 2020, the Psych alum said she wasn’t sure if she’ll take her fiancé’s name when they tie the knot. “I can’t even say my soon-to-be last name,” she said. “I always tell him, like, ‘Can you just be Bella? It’s easier!’ I feel like in this day and age, like, come on. The future is female. I kind of like just mine, but we’ll see. He’s very traditional, which I love.”
Credit: Courtesy of Artem Chigvintsev/Instagram
Sole Custody?
During a November 2020 episode of Total Bellas, the athlete said that Matteo would live with her if she and Chigvintsev ever split. “Matteo would come with me because I’m the mother,” she said at the time.
Credit: Courtesy Nikki Bella/Instagram
Pregnant Pause
Chigvintsev admitted that he thought pregnancy sex was “weird” during a December 2020 episode of Total Bellas. “I mean, there’s a whole baby inside there,” he explained. “It’s the mental thing. You think [about how] there’s a whole human inside.”
Credit: ABC/Eric McCandless
A Jealous Streak
In a January 2021 episode of Total Bellas, the podcast host admitted that she felt jealous of Chigvintsev and DWTS partner Kaitlyn Bristowe when they competed on season 29, which they eventually won. “It’s not about her and him,” Bella said at the time. “Like, I don’t have a fear of Artem going off. That’s not it. It’s wanting what she’s getting from him. Can he come home and laugh with me? Can he come home and ask me how I’m doing? Like, I want to feel wanted and sexy.”
Credit: Broadimage/Shutterstock
Couples Therapy
Bella admitted that she and her fiancé decided to try couples therapy because of communication problems, among other things. “When he gets really stressed, he doesn’t realize his tone,” she explained during a January 2021 episode of the “Off the Vine” podcast. “It would make me feel really off. And it would just be his tone. It was hard.”
Credit: Courtesy of Artem Chigvintsev/Instagram
Parental Exhaustion
The Teen Choice Award winner gave another candid quote about the couple’s sex life in March 2021, telling Us that the duo were “hot and heavy” before Matteo’s arrival but had gotten “super tired” since his birth. “When you have tired sex with each other, it’s like one’s leaning onto someone too much,” she explained at the time. “And it’s like, ‘OK, wait. … I need something else.’ Like, I need energy. Even for me, I’ll be like, ‘Let’s see. I’ll be on bottom. It’s OK. Let’s just do missionary.’”
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Too Real
Chigvintsev isn’t always thrilled about his fiancée’s candor. “A lot of stuff I say makes headlines, and [he got upset when] it was something about our sex life,” Bella told Us in October 2021. “And I remember he showed me [a story] and he goes, ‘Really? I mean, you have to talk about all that?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, good thing. Like, I put you over [the top].’ And he goes, ‘That doesn’t matter.’”
The ballroom dancer is “very private,” so he’s pushed back on some of Bella’s more shocking reveals. “He gets really embarrassed with all that,” she added. “And when I talked about, like, having hemorrhoids, he’s like, ‘I can’t believe you told people about your hemorrhoids.’ And I’m like, ‘It’s real life. [That’s what] it’s like to push out a baby.’”
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A Rough Patch
In November 2021, Bella admitted that the duo faced a “rocky” patch when their work kept them apart for six weeks. “[We] had to get back into therapy,” she said during an episode of her podcast. “You know, distance is really hard. … Now we’re stronger than ever.”
Credit: MediaPunch/Shutterstock
Waiting for Forever
In February 2022, Bella explained why she had held off marrying Chigvintsev after previously saying the duo were going to wed in the fall of 2021. “Once I had Matteo and I started to raise him, I was like, when I say ‘I do,’ I want to make sure it’s forever,” she said during an appearance on E! News’ Daily Pop. “I know there are things that Artem wants too — like he really wants his parents there — but also, overall, I don’t want my son to go through a divorce.”
Credit: Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
Their Own Timeline
After her comments about not wanting to go through a divorce made headlines, Bella clarified that she still plans to marry Chigvintsev — on her own time. “I will be getting married, and I can’t wait,” she said on her podcast. “It’s weird how it hits you now, or me, [in my] late 30s, a mother, Artem and I already have this beautiful life together. I still want to get married, don’t get me wrong.”
The So You Think You Can Dance alum joined the podcast to offer his own take, saying that the couple will wed when his parents can be present at the ceremony. “When one proposes to another, they definitely have a better understanding of what that person wants to do,” he said. “I proposed to you, knowing how I [felt] and what I wanted.”
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Still Steamy
Bella told Us in November 2022 that she and Chigvintsev are “very good with our sex life,” adding that she “still get[s] butterflies” when they kiss.
The athlete also admitted that her husband’s Dancing With the Stars obligations had prevented them from being intimate in their own home.
“I’m like, ‘Artem, we haven’t even made love as husband and wife in our own bed. This is crazy,'” she said.
