Nikki Bella, 35, took the opportunity to jokingly shade her love Artem Chigvintsev, 37, and his dating history when they chatted about their lives during their time co-hosting Entertainment Tonight on Sept. 25! The two lovebirds, who have been dating since Dec., discussed their relationship and their time on Dancing with the Stars, where they met as partners in 2017, and when Artem’s ex-girlfriend Carrie Ann Inaba, 51, who is a judge on the competition series, was mentioned, Nikki couldn’t help but bring up the fact that her beau dated the beauty. Check out the video of Nikki and Artem HERE!
I like it,”Nikki said when talking about the new voting system the show has now. “I think we would have lasted longer if we had that option. I think Carrie Ann totally would have saved us. And not because you guys dated… but she really liked my technique!” An embarrassed Artem immediately turned red when she said the comment and even held up a paper to his face. “Speaking of hot seat today, what?” he replied. “C’mon!”
Artem, who was on several seasons of Dancing with the Stars, started dating Carrie Ann, who he met on the set of So You Think You Can Dance, in 2006 and their romance lasted for two and a half years before they parted ways in 2009.
In addition to discussing the voting system and Carrie Ann, Artem opened up about where he’s at in his life despite not being welcomed back to Dancing with the Stars for its 28th season. “I feel like I’m better now,” he said. “The best way to describe [the feeling] is, having this relationship for 10 years that you’ve completely invested in, and all of a sudden, it’s just like it’s not there anymore. So, it’s tough, but I wish the best of luck to the show.”
He went on to admit that although he’s OK now, it wasn’t that way when he received the call from ABC and his reaction will be seen on an upcoming episode of Nikki’s reality series, Total Bellas, since he joined the cast for its fifth season. “I think that was the hardest,” Nikki said about seeing Artem upset about the call. “For a while I was kind of stern towards them, a little angry and I think I let my emotions take over a little bit. But it’s because I care about this man so much and love him, and seeing him so hurt really affected me. I felt like a bulldog. I was like, ‘That’s my Puss in Boots, I gotta guard him!'”
Although he was hurt, Artem insisted he still has no bad feelings towards the show and isn’t completely ruling out a comeback. “They ask me back, maybe I’ll be back,” he gushed. “Who knows!”