He also dished on coparenting, and when fans can expect to see him back in the Dancing with the Stars ballroom.
Artem Chigvintsev is opening up about his relationship with his ex-wife, Nikki Garcia.
While appearing on the Glamorous Grind podcast, the Dancing with the Stars pro said that with everything they do, the former couple always have their 4-year-old son, Matteo, in mind.
"[Coparenting] is definitely doable," Chigvintsev said. "Obviously, both parties put the best foot forward [to] accommodate the kid. [At] the end of the day, what's best for Matteo is best for me, right?"
Chigvintsev and Garcia filed for divorce in September 2024, one week after news broke that the dance pro was arrested following an alleged incident with the retired WWE Superstar.
Domestic violence charges against Chigvintsev were dropped by the Napa County District Attorney shortly after, following an investigation, but the bitter back-an-forth was hardly over, with Garcia requesting full custody over Matteo.
Chigvintsev sought joint custody, and the pair both filed restraining orders against each other, which were ultimately dropped when they reached a divorce settlement in November 2024.
"It's tough sometimes because you have to negotiate certain things, you have to be willing to sacrifice certain things, but at the same time, if you take your own ego out of it, you really have to think of what is best for him, not necessarily what you think would be best for him," Chigvintsev explained.
"I think that's the fine line, because we all base decision[s] like -- right now speaking of myself personally -- base decision like what do I think is best for him, by purely thinking like how I would want it, right?" he added. "But you have to kind of, like, take yourself out of that and think [of] what actually he needs."
When asked what the future holds for him and Garcia, and whether or not they could be friends, Chigvintsev said, "Never, say never."
"But there definitely needs to be certain conversations and certain things, acknowledgement of certain things. Yeah, I believe everybody can end up being friends," he continued.
While the professional dancer didn't go into detail as to what needs to be discussed, Chigvintsev said he thinks the pair need to hash out their differences and hear each other out.
"When I say hearing each other, it's not just like, 'Oh, I heard you.' Truly hearing and trying to understand why that is that, and actually try to feel like, 'Oh, that's OK,' He said.
"I think the hard part, because we live in such a different culture, everybody grew up different, everybody raised different, everybody has different values, and I think that separates us in a lot of ways," Chigvintsev explained. "And we forgot to kind of, I don't know, understand each other."
While Chigvintsev did not return for Dancing With the Stars Season 33 amid the pair's divorce drama, he said he "would love" to be back for another season.
Moving forward, Chigvintsev said he just wants to be "happy," despite all the unknowns currently in his life.
"I'm happy that I have my son, I'm happy that my mom is here, I'm happy that I'd be able to see that relationship," he shared. "I'm happy that I'm still OK, I'm happy about that. But am I happy overall and, like, looking forward? No, because it's just a whole bunch of unknown and unknown does not make you happy."
Garcia, meanwhile, said that while co-parenting has been an adjustment, their son is not affected by the divorce and is quite happy going from house to house.
"I had never been in our home without him. So getting through those days is extremely difficult because I just love being around my son so much," she told Us Weekly last month.
She said their "focus" has been Matteo, with Garcia saying the pair put aside their issues over Christmas to ensure he could have a normal holiday.
"We made sure we were both there when we baked Santa's cookies. Matteo went to bed and we both were there when he woke up. Because he's our focus, we want to keep those moments," Garcia revealed.
And like her ex, she too just wants to be happy.
"I'm definitely finding more moments of joy," she told the publication. "[I'm] excited to just live this new era of me."
