Nikki Garcia has requested sole legal and physical custody of the son she shares with ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev in her divorce filing, following his arrest for domestic violence.
Chigvintsev, 42, was arrested for allegedly attacking her at his Napa, California, home on the morning of Thursday, August 29, and the former WWE star, 40, filed for dissolution of marriage on Wednesday in Napa Superior Court.
Garcia has cited irreconcilable differences in the dissolution documents by TMZ and cites the date of separation as August 29, the day of the arrest.
She is open to Artem getting visitation rights to their four-year-old son Matteo.
She asked to block the court’s ability to award spousal support to either of them.
Nikki Garcia has requested sole legal and physical custody of the son she shares with ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev in her divorce filing, following his arrest for domestic violence, seen with their four-year-old son Matteo.
Chigvintsev, 42, was arrested for allegedly attacking her at his Napa, California, home on the morning of Thursday, August 29, and the former WWE star, 40, filed a petition to dissolve the marriage on Wednesday in Napa Superior Court; seen in 2019
Just days before the professional dancer was married, the couple had celebrated their second wedding anniversary. Chigvintsev shared a heartfelt message in an Instagram post: “Happy anniversary, my love. I can’t imagine my life without you. You are my everything.”
On Saturday, Chigvintsev updated his Instagram bio by adding his wife’s name back, less than 24 hours after removing it.
Sources recently told DailyMail.com that Chigvintsev is desperately trying to save the marriage.
Police were called to the couple’s $1.5 million marital home in Yountville, California, after reports of a fight.
Sources said the couple called 911 twice, first to request assistance for an injury before calling again and asking paramedics not to come.
But because of the sounds of a domestic disturbance in the background, police from the Napa Sheriff’s Department arrived at the couple’s leafy neighborhood anyway, taking the Russian-born Chigvintsev with them.
He was booked into the Napa County Jail on felony domestic violence charges at 10:59 a.m. before being released on $25,000 bail at approximately 2:18 p.m.
A mugshot released by the Napa County Sheriff’s Office showed the ballroom star with a grim face wearing a plaid shirt and sporting a graying beard.
Chigvintsev appears in the police photo after his shocking arrest
The arrest, which reportedly came after Garcia threw shoes at her husband, took place less than four days after the couple celebrated their wedding anniversary in August 2022, with both recalling the moment on social media.
Sources said Chigvintsev is scheduled to appear in court in Napa on Tuesday for the incident and cannot leave Napa County until the case is resolved.
And now Artem is said to be determined to prove to his wife Nikki that he “can be a changed man.”
While she has reportedly banned Artem from seeing their four-year-old son Matteo unsupervised and is seeking a divorce lawyer, sources have revealed to DailyMail.com that he is in the “fight of his life” to win her back, especially now that he has been eliminated from the upcoming season of DWTS.
“Artem is very frustrated and angry that he was not asked to be on this season of Dancing with the Stars, and now it looks like he will never return,” they said.
‘His life, both professional and personal, has changed radically.’
‘He doesn’t know what his next steps are with Nikki, he’s been upset for a long time and is now in the fight of his life to clear his name and win Nikki back, but so far he hasn’t decided what he could do to show her that he can be a changed man.’
“They currently have limited dialogue between them.”
“If she sees Matteo, Nikki wants him to be monitored. Her confidence has gone out the window and she’s very angry with Artem, who has an uphill battle ahead of him. The whole thing is chaos.”
“She has tried and tried to make it work, but she feels that divorce is the only option. It hurts her, but Nikki is a very strong woman and she is doing what is best for her and Matteo.”
Although Artem is desperately trying to repair his marriage, Nikki’s twin, Brie Garcia, is said to want her sister to leave him for good.
Earlier this week, a source close to former WWE star Brie, 40, said she is “disgusted” by the news of Artem’s arrest and wants her twin to have nothing to do with him.
On Saturday, Chigvintsev updated his Instagram bio by adding his wife’s name back, less than 24 hours after removing it; seen in 2015
“Nikki’s sister Brie is upset, shocked, disappointed and saddened by what has happened,” they told DailyMail.com.
“She loves Artem and this is beyond the control of anyone she knows. Brie is very concerned about all of this and is there for her sister no matter what.”
She added: ‘Brie, who is obviously the closest to Nikki, as anyone would be, is telling her to leave Artem, if this is as bad as it seems, and if it happened before, once she finds out everything that happened, she will be the first one to tell Nikki to leave him.’
Nikki and Artem’s two-year marriage was reportedly plagued by arguments, but her violent outburst shocked the WWE star and her family.
“One thing Nikki never showed was the verbal issues she had with Artem,” the source continued. “They didn’t treat each other very well and never built a friendship.”
‘Their only interest has been their son and not each other. That has led to arguments, but as far as anyone knows, it never got physical.’
‘Family and friends are very surprised that things got physical, but they’re not exactly surprised that they were having problems – they just seemed like normal relationship issues to outsiders.’
Over the weekend, Nikki was spotted boarding a JSX flight to Sin City at Oakland Airport without her wedding ring. She was accompanied by her son and an assistant.
On Tuesday, TMZ She claimed that Nikki began searching for a lawyer the day after Artem allegedly attacked her.
Nikki’s twin, Brie Garcia (pictured), is said to want her sister to leave Artem for good.
The publication claimed that she has been making calls since Friday and intends to end her marriage.
Artem and Nikki first crossed paths in 2017 when they were paired together on season 25 of Dancing with the Stars.
Artem had previously been in high-profile relationships with other celebrities, including dancer Giselle Peacock, 43, between 2004 and 2005. He also dated DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba, 56, between 2006 and 2008.