Nikki Garcia Returns to Podcast, Opens Up About Divorce from Artem Chigvintsev
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Nikki Garcia has broken her silence about her divorce from husband Artem Chigvintsev following his arrest for domestic violence earlier this year. Garcia recently returned to the podcast she co-hosts with her twin sister Brie Garcia, after taking a hiatus for a few months.
Nikki Garcia Opens Up About Artem Chigvintsev Divorce
During Monday’s new episode of The Nikki & Brie Show, Garcia shared that she’s been “so shocked” over the split, saying, “You dream of having this family, and you have this incredible love, and it just goes the other way. You go from having a great love story to having a terrible one.”
Garcia explained her absence from the podcast and social media by saying she “needed to disconnect” in order to protect her 4-year-old son Matteo’s privacy, and to give herself “space for healing, for facing trauma head-on.”
“You sit there, and you go, I shared my life with this person. I thought it was so different,” Garcia said. “Just to see what someone can do. You know, we’re a family. No matter what, at the end of the day, even when two people divorce, if you have children, you’re still a family.”
Garcia said that if someone told her how her year would end, she “would have thought you were crazy.” She added of the negative comments she has received over the situation, “When you know the truth, nothing else matters.”
SEE ALSO: NIKKI GARCIA, ARTEM CHIGVINTSEV SETTLE DIVORCE, DROP RESTRAINING ORDERS
Garcia Gets Honest About Her Marriage
“I know being a public figure, I have to say a little bit about this, right?” Garcia said during Monday’s podcast. “And after this, I don’t want to ever talk about it again, because I truly do want privacy for Matteo. That has been the most important part.”
Garcia admitted that her relationship with Chigvintsev “hasn’t been great for a long time,” and she “really played it up like things were a lot better than they were in the public eye,” which she regrets. She added that she “didn’t want to have another failed public relationship.”
During the podcast episode, Garcia thanked her fans and friends for showing their support and giving her “privacy and space” while she was away. She also praised her sister for hosting the podcast solo during that time.
Garcia said she hopes that she and Chigvintsev will be friends in the future as they co-parent their son. The pair recently settled their divorce and dropped the restraining orders they had against each other.
