Former Total Bellas star Nikki Bella met her soulmate in the Dancing with the Stars ballroom. She was partnered with pro dancer Artem Chigvintsev. At the time she was engaged to John Cena, who she met while working as a WWE wrestler.
But that relationship ended, and Nikki and Artem heated up. The couple have a two-year-old son named Matteo. Nikki and Artem finally got married in Paris in August 2022. Their previous wedding plans were scuttled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nikki retired from WWE after 15 years and is busy caring for her toddler. She always knew that she wanted a child. Nikki recently spoke to E! News about her son and the challenges of parenting.
Nikki is really, really tired
“I have a sweet boy,” Nikki explained. “The toddler stage, I’m not gonna lie, has rocked me a lot. I feel like I’ve been exhausted for almost three years, and I’m like, ‘Brie, when do I get my life back?'” That would be a big, fat never.
Nikki was asking her twin sister, Brie Bella, who has two kids under the age of six, for advice. She doesn’t have time to chat, Nikki.
“You go from teething to then just getting him in preschool and dealing with sickness, and there’s always something. And Matteo also had a speech delay, so just even dealing with that and doing therapy — so toddler stage has definitely rocked me,” Nikki explained.
She continued, “I will say that I wish I could freeze this age because seeing him have his own personality but also having him be all about mommy — and daddy too, but really a lot about mommy — I just want to freeze it.”
According to his mom, Matteo is already advanced. “He’s a very intelligent boy, like, crazy smart. We’ve already worked with specialists because how he is with numbers and letters, he’s just very advanced,” his proud mother stated.
Since retiring from the wrestling ring, Nikki has gone back to her given name. She said, “I am really excited to be in this next chapter of my life as Nikki Garcia. Nikki Bella made history for two decades and being 40 in November, Nikki Garcia is about to make history in this next decade, and I’m so excited about it.”
Dancing With the Stars will air in the fall of 2023 on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC and streaming on Disney+.
TELL US – IS NIKKI COMPLAINING TOO MUCH ABOUT MOTHERHOOD? DO YOU MISS SEEING NIKKI IN THE WRESTLING RING?
