It’s not all sunshine and roses for Nikki Bella and fiancé Artem Chigvintsev because like any normal couple they experience their own set of problems too.
In a recent episode of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s Off The Vine podcast, the Total Bellas star opened up about her therapy journey with the 38-year-old Dancing with the Stars pro. The topic actually came up when the former Bachelorette revealed that she had frequently fought with the hunky dancer throughout season 29 of the show and asked the retired pro wrestler if she had a similar experience when she was partnered with Artem on season 25 before they became a couple.
“Tell me, was Artem… Did you feel like he hated your guts during the season, or did you guys have, like, a flirty thing?”
Related: Kristin Bell & Dax Shepard ‘Needed A Little Therapy Brush-Up’ During Quarantine
In the interview, Nikki, who shares adorable 5-month-old son Matteo with him, recalled his “super strict” attitude while they were in practices, saying:
“He kind of made a comment about my jive and got really mad at me. And I was like ‘You know what, dude? J.Lo and Beyoncé don’t jive. I don’t have time for this.’ And I walked out and I got in my car. I remember at the time calling John [Cena] going like, ‘I am quitting. Like, I am not going to stand for this. He is a d**k!’”
Wow… he sounds like a real treat.
However, once she got to know him more, she learned that “when he gets really stressed, he doesn’t realize his tone.” And, as the momma of one also revealed, this was what led them to go to couple’s therapy.
Yesss, nothing wrong with a little help from someone else! It’s normal and healthy, TBH.
The 37-year-old, who got engaged to the former Burn the Floor cast member in November 2019, further explained how she always thought he was mad at her during final rehearsals, too.
“I remember during dress rehearsals sometimes I’d be like, ‘Is he mad at me? It would make me feel really off. It would just be his tone. It was hard, it was hard on me a lot.”
Kaitlyn then told Nikki that she was thankful to hear they had a similar time on the dancing reality series and that it wasn’t just her, confessing:
“I’m glad because I was, like, ‘Maybe he just didn’t like me at all as a person. Because I’ve heard all the dancers are like that — very strict, that’s kind of how they grew up in their world of dancing, that’s how they were taught — and Artem even said to me, ‘I don’t want to use Russia as an excuse, but I’m Russian.'”
This admission comes a few months after Nikki discussed going to see someone after the season ended in November 2020. In an interview on The Tamron Hall Show, she got real about the couple’s struggles when he left for DWTS (which he won the Mirrorball Trophy with Kaitlyn), expressing:
“I was so supportive and pushing him out the door to go do Dancing and then I realized once he left, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what did I do? Like I need him.’ And so it was really hard.”
When the host Tamron Hall asked if the champion considered therapy, she responded:
“We’re going to start after the season and it’s mainly just to be amazing parents and knowing how to balance parent life out and also our own relationship. Because Artem and I don’t ever want to have a struggle. You know, we plan on being married.”
Ch-ch-check out the full interview (below):
You know, we love to see it! What do y’all think about Nikki’s confession? Let us know in the comments (below)!
[Image via Nikki Bella/Instagram]