Nikki “Bella” Garcia wanted “a chance to communicate” with Artem Chigvintsev about their marriage prior to his domestic violence arrest.
The professional wrestler told “Nikki & Brie Show” podcast listeners last week that she was excited to spend phone-free spa time with her husband for their second wedding anniversary.
“When you’re in the steam room together or the sauna or the pool or the waiting area before your massage or after … you just get to sit and chat,” Garcia, 40, explained. “Artem and I talked about doing that.”
She called those “the best moments,” noting that they “did something similar last year.”
The athlete recalled, “It gave us a chance to communicate about our marriage. Where are we at, what are you loving, what are you not loving?
“We had such a great conversation and made not goals for the next years of marriage but [figuring out] what are some things we can add into our marriage or are looking forward to in our marriage?” she continued.
Garcia shared her intention to divulge some details from their conversation depending on what Chigvintsev, 42, considered “TMI.”
She noted that her partner often asks her, “Did you really have to talk like that?”
The couple, who wed in August 2022, initially had different plans for their anniversary — “but Artem had to go do some work” on their special day.
“We originally had this amazing lunch planned,” Garcia said. “Artem and I were gonna do all these things while [our son], Matteo, was in school. … We’re gonna try do so something tonight.”
She clarified, “Wha’s nice about anniversaries and birthdays is you don’t always have to celebrate that day if it doesn’t work out as long as you figure it out and plan something.”
Three days later, the duo made headlines when Chigvintsev was arrested in Napa Valley, Calif., for felony corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant and released on $25,000 bail.
While the “Dancing With the Stars” pro has yet to address the incident, Garcia’s spokesperson asked for “privacy.”
The former reality star, notably, was spotted without her wedding ring while boarding a private jet with Matteo, 4, over the weekend and hosting Netflix’s “Joey Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef” hot dog eating contest Monday.
She is seeking a divorce lawyer, according to TMZ.
The couple met while partnered up on Season 25 of “DWTS” in 2017 but didn’t confirm their romance until two years later.
Chigvintsev got down on one knee in 2019, and they welcomed their baby boy the following year before their Paris wedding.
Their dynamic has been “volatile,” friends claimed to TMZ on Friday, claiming that they were “shock[ed] but not shock[ed]” by Chigvintsev’s arrest news.
Garcia, however, called their “energy … great” on last week’s podcast, gushing that they were “content and happy” with their family of three — despite Chigvintsev going “back and forth” about having another baby.
