How You Know 'Nikki Bella Says I Do' Star Artem Chigvintsev

“Barmageddon” host Nikki Bella is starring in a new, deeply personal four-part event series on E!, “Nikki Bella Says I Do” that lets fans behind the curtain of her long-awaited nuptials with Artem Chigvintsev. While the WWE Superstar and TV host may be well-known to USA Network fans, some may still wonder about the man who stole her heart. 

Chigvintsev is perhaps best known as one of the many talented pros on “Dancing With The Stars.” That said, there’s much more to the Russian-born dancer's story than that. According to his official website, Chigvintsev got the dancing bug early thanks to his mother, who let him take as many classes as he wanted. By age 15, he moved away to train more in Germany, Italy, and England. By 2004 he’d made his way to Los Angeles where he got some attention in show business. 

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He appeared on “The O.C.,” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” eventually choreographing the second season. Between 2010 and 2013, he appeared on a British show called “Strictly Come Dancing.” Also at that time, he set a Guinness World Record for achieving 79 Botafogo dance steps in just 30 seconds. All this got him enough attention to join Season 19 of the U.S. version of “Strictly,” titled “Dancing With The Stars.” That same year, in 2014, he became an American citizen.

He continued on the show, even earning an Emmy nomination, and by 2016 he got a little more acclaim in Hollywood by helping to choreograph and standing in as a body double for Ryan Gosling in the Academy Award-winning film “La La Land.” 

However, his biggest moment for Chigvintsev would come in 2017, although he didn’t know it. That season on “Dancing With The Stars,” he was partnered with “Total Divas” star Bella. Nothing was romantic between them at the time since she was engaged to fellow WWE Superstar, John Cena. It wasn’t until the following year that they reconnected following her breakup. At the time, she was still filming “Total Bellas” and the cameras captured her mentioning she was excited to meet up with him for lunch now that she’s single, according to "People."

Although fans could see their chemistry on “Dancing With The Stars” and “Total Bellas,” they took their sweet time confirming they were an item. However, by 2019 they were Instagram official, and not long after he proposed — all the while touring with “Dancing With The Stars" and competing on the show. 

In fact, in 2020 the newly engaged dancer won the coveted Mirror Ball trophy along with Kaitlyn Bristowe from “The Bachelorette.” More importantly, he and Bella welcomed their son, Matteo Chigvintsev to the world. 

As he continued to dance professionally, raise their son, and plan a wedding with the woman he finally married in 2022, cameras were rolling throughout the entire process promising to showcase their journey from a proposal to finally tying the knot in Paris on "Nikki Bella Says I Do." 

Tune into “Nikki Bella Says I Do” on E! Thursday at 9 p.m. ET and catch more of the Bellas on Peacock.