Nikki Garcia's twin sister and long-time professional wrestling tag-team partner, Brie Danielson, reportedly played a role in her decision to leave husband, former Dancing with the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev.
Danielson, who wrestled under the name Brie Bella and was inducted alongside her sister, formerly known as Nikki Bella, into the WWE Hall of Fame as 'The Bella Twins,' encouraged her twin to file for divorce from Cigvinstev weeks after he was arrested on domestic violence charges, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Entertainment Tonight.
“Brie encouraged Nikki to leave the marriage. Any sort of violence does not fly, and they were very worried about Nikki and her son,” the source said, also confirming that Garcia and Chigvinstev are currently "not living under the same roof."
Chigvinstev, 42, was charged with felony domestic violence on August 29. and released on a $25,000 bond, according to online jail records. A conviction can be charged as either a misdemeanor or felony, which may result in a sentence of up to four years in state prison, as well as a maximum fine of $6,000. Garcia, 40, made her first public appearance alongside co-host Rob Riggle during Netflix's live competitive eating showdown between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, without her wedding ring on September 2.
Garcia and Chigvinstev share a 4-year-old son and celebrated their second wedding anniversary days before his arrest. Garcia also shared an Instagram post featuring a video celebrating the couple's anniversary, as well as a caption quoting Elvis Pressley's song 'Just Can't Help Falling in Love.'
The Bella Twins were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 after spending 14 years with the company. The sisters combined to win the WWE Divas Championship three times, with Nikki having two title reigns and were featured on the E! Network reality series Total Divas and its spinoff Total Bellas.
Brie is the wife of former WWE Champion and current All Elite Wrestling Champion Bryan Danielson, formerly known as Daniel Bryan, with whom she shares two children.