Cheryl Burke has responded to the recent domestic violence arrest of her former Dancing With The Stars colleague Artem Chigvintsev.
Artem, 42, was jailed Thursday on felony domestic violence charges after an alleged fight at the $1.5 million California home he shares with wife Nikki Garcia.
He was released on $25,000 bail just hours later and Nikki has since left the state with their four-year-old son Matteo, according to photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com on Saturday.
During a new episode of her podcast Sex, Lies and Spray Tans, professional dancer Burke said she was “in complete shock” over Artem’s arrest.
“I’m hesitant to smile right now at the current news,” said Burke, who considers the Russian-born star a good friend for years.
“It’s very hard for me because he was part of my family,” she continued. “I don’t know what to say except that I hope everyone is okay.”
Cheryl Burke reacted to the recent domestic violence arrest of her former Dancing With The Stars colleague Artem Chigvintsev
Burke’s connection to Chigvintsev predates his DWTS fame, with the star revealing that they had literally “grown up” together.
“We lived together in my family’s house in the Bay Area,” Burke said. “It’s very shocking. I get a little sentimental.”
“My heart goes out to everyone involved,” Burke concluded.
Chigvintsev was arrested Thursday at 10 a.m. PST in Yountville, the Napa County town where the couple has been living for the past several years, on charges of corporal injury to a spouse. TMZ reported
Later that day, Artem was booked into the Napa County Jail on felony domestic violence charges at 10:59 a.m. PST before being released on bond.
A mugshot released by the Napa County Sheriff’s Office showed the dancer looking stoic in a green-patterned plaid shirt.
DailyMail.com has been told the man was driven from jail in a black Ford F-150 pickup truck and has not returned to the family home.
The radio dispatch obtained by the outlet confirmed the report that the DWTS professional called 9-1-1 for medical assistance, claiming his wife had thrown shoes at him.
But then he cancelled the request for emergency medical care. But still, when the police arrived at the house an hour later, they arrested Chigvintsev.
Nikki broke her silence on the incident in a statement asking for privacy.
“This is a private matter and Nikki asks for privacy for herself and her family at this time,” the WWE star’s rep said Friday.
On Saturday, Nikki and her son Matteo were spotted boarding a JSX flight to Sin City at Oakland Airport, according to exclusive photos from DailyMail.com.
Artem, 42, was jailed Thursday on felony domestic violence charges after an alleged fight at the Napa Valley, California, home he shares with his wife Nikki Garcia.
During a new episode of her podcast Sex, Lies and Spray Tans, professional dancer Burke said she was “in complete shock” over Artem’s arrest.
“It’s really hard for me because he was my family,” she continued. “I don’t know what to say here except I hope everyone is okay.”
Nikki, who wore a low-cut brown T-shirt and baggy jeans for the trip, is scheduled to host a hot dog eating contest between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi at the Luxor casino on Sunday, which will air on Netflix.
She was not wearing her wedding ring at the time of boarding.
The arrest of the Russian-born Latin dance star came just a couple of days after they celebrated their second wedding anniversary, which they both acknowledged on their respective Instagram pages.
Bella shared a video montage documenting their relationship through the years, captioning it with the lyrics of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling In Love.
She gushed about her “love story” and recalled “falling in love” with Artem.
“This song is our love story. I will never forget where I was when I asked Jesus about Artem,” she wrote.
‘I was talking to Him and God. I felt like my feelings had come too soon. Everything felt too fast. And then this song started. And that’s when I knew I was falling in love with Him and that it was all meant to be.
‘Happy anniversary @theartemc I love you!’ concluded Garcia, who included photos from her wedding day.
Artem and Nikki met when they were partners on Dancing With The Stars in 2017.
Just days before his arrest on Thursday, Artem professed his “love” for Niki on Instagram in honor of their second wedding anniversary.
As for Chigvintsev, he was full of praise for his girlfriend, writing: “Happy anniversary, my love. I can’t imagine my life without you. You are everything to me.”
The couple first met as partners on DWTS in 2017, but Bella was engaged to actor and professional wrestler John Cena at the time.
But the couple called off their engagement the following year and Nikki eventually began dating Chigvintsev.
They welcomed their first child together, Matteo, on July 31, 2020.
He was born just 22 hours before his twin sister Brie Bella (née Brianna Monique Garcia-Colace) gave birth to son Buddy, who is her second child with husband Daniel Bryan.
In addition to being WWE icons, Nikki and her twin sister are best known for their E! reality show Total Bellas.