Dancing With the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev met his fiancée, Nikki Bella, when they were partnered on the show in 2017. They had some seriously steamy chemistry. After Nikki’s engagement to John Cena ended, the duo reconnected in 2019. And in July of 2020, Artem and Nikki welcomed their son, Matteo.
The couple had to delay their plans to waltz down the aisle because of Covid travel restrictions. Nikki promised DWTS pro Artem that both his parents, who live outside of the United States, would be able to attend the nuptials.
Recently, Artem was grappling with a health concern that was serious enough that he had to drop out of the DWTS: Live! Tour. On January 20, 2022 Artem posted a statement on his Instagram. “Hi DWTS family – My time on tour so far has been wonderful – unfortunately I am having to step away from tour for a while, due to some unexpected health issues,” the dancer wrote. “My goal is to recover as quickly as possible so I can rejoin my cast and crew on this incredible tour. Thank you for your patience and understanding. See you soon, Artem.”
On February 12, 2022, Total Bellas star Nikki revealed that Artem had been battling pneumonia for four weeks. “He still has pneumonia. Monday or Tuesday we’ll get [another] update,” Nikki explained. “He gets his lungs rescanned and we’ll find out if they’re better. The swellings gone down so, fingers crossed. We’re praying really hard that we get good news.” Poor Artem!
RELATED: Nikki Bella Explains Why She & Artem Chigvintsev Keep Postponing Their Wedding
Artem updated his fans on his condition in an Instagram Story on February 3, 2022. “I had another X-ray done yesterday, and it came back still positive for pneumonia,” Artem said. “So, I just got another set of antibiotics. This is of course number two.”
Artem added, “Hopefully, this one will do the magic, will do the trick, to kick out the pneumonia out of my lungs.”
Well, Artem is finally heading back to dance floor, and the DWTS: Live! Tour. Nikki recently told People, “He just got word from his doctor yesterday. His scans came back, and he’s cleared. His lungs are officially cleared,” Nikki shared. “We’re so happy because his last scan they weren’t seeing a lot of hope. They were talking about him being on an inhaler the rest of his life and all these different things.” That sounds scary.
“He’s feeling great. He’s itching to go back and dance,” she commented. Artem’s Season 29 partner, former The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe, is also part of the tour. Artem and Kaitlyn won the mirror ball trophy during their season. Season 30 winner Iman Shumpert is also part of the cast, along with his fellow contestants Amanda Kloots and Jimmie Allen.
RELATED: Artem Chigvintsev Has Had Pneumonia For Four Weeks; Previously Left The Dancing With The Stars Tour Due To “Unexpected Health Issues”
Dance pros Alan Bersten, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater, Sasha Farber, Daniella Karagach, Pasha Pashkov, Brandon Armstrong, Britt Stewart, and Sofia Ghavami are also participating in the tour.
TELL US- ARE YOU HAPPY THAT ARTEM IS CLEARED TO DANCE AGAIN? WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE PRO DANCER ON DWTS?
[Photo Credit: ABC/Maarten de Boer]
