The Nikki “Bella” Garcia, Artem Chigvintsev saga has taken another strange, unexpected turn.
The New York Post is reporting that Chigvintsev, Garcia’s estranged husband, has a protective order against her on Thursday. This comes on the heels of Garcia being granted her own restraining order yesterday.
Ilona Antonyan, Chigvintsev’s lawyer, told The Post: “It is crucial to consider the motivations of both parties in this situation. Mr. Chigvintsev contacted law enforcement on 8/29/24 seeking protection from his wife’s persistent aggression. While he was on the phone with the police, Ms. Garcia-Colace made a pointed statement, saying, ‘Do you understand where this is going now, Artem? You just ruined my career, and you know it.’”
Chigvintsev has been a professional dancer on UK’s Strictly Come Dancing and the American Dancing with the Stars.
She also claimed: “That day, someone was going to be arrested, and it wouldn’t have been Mr. Chigvintsev if Ms. Garcia Colace had told the truth.”
Chigvintsev and his attorney have accused Garcia of out and out lying about what happened that morning.
“[Chigvintsev] denies ever tackling her. He was shocked to learn two weeks after the incident that she made this allegation against him; at that point it made sense to him why he was arrested. As a result of wife’s self-serving statement, Mr. Chigvintsev’s career suffered, with numerous opportunities being canceled due to these false allegations. Men can also be victims of domestic violence; Mr. Chigvintsev’s case highlights this reality. He was not the primary aggressor.”
While Chigvintsev admits they did have a fight that morning over their son’s food it was Garcia who started the argument berating him in front of his son.
“[Bella] completely lost it and started screaming ‘get the f – – k out of my house, I am sick of all of it, I had enough,’” states Chigvintsev in his filing. He agrees that she did throw their son’s shoes at him.
“I took Matteo into my arms, and tried to deescalate the situation and take him upstairs to his room,” he also states claiming that he was protecting their son from her anger that morning and they ended up in a mutual struggle.
With the protection order Chigvintsev also filed pictures of the scrapes and cuts he suffered protecting his son.
As reported yesterday, Garcia has a very different account.
The morning of the domestic incident, Garcia says she spoke to Chigvintsev about controlling his anger. Later, she stated, he flew off the handle about how their son’s muffin should be toasted. Yelling, he accused her of making him into a “picky eater”.
“Nikki says she was so overwhelmed by Artem yelling at her, she threw Matteo’s toddler-sized 7 shoes toward Artem. She says the shoes hit his leg but were so light they couldn’t have hurt him. She says Artem grabbed Matteo and ran with him upstairs, as the boy screamed, “Mommy! Mommy!” She says as she tried to get in the room, Artem opened the door and tackled her to the ground outside Matteo’s room. She says he grabbed her arms and held her on the ground for what felt like 30 seconds,” wrote TMZ.
She claims Chigvintsev went into and closed the door to Matteo’s room. She couldn’t get it open. She says Chigvintsev pushed her across the hall forcing her onto the floor of their bedroom pinning her down.
“She says he had his hands on her chest near her sternum, pressing down — she says she felt like she was suffocating — and she says she grabbed at his neck in an attempt to get him off,” reported TMZ.
Garcia says that Chigvintsev has been physically violent and verbally abusive with her before. She details an incident in which he grabbed her wrist last year and pulled her away from Matteo.
Chigvintsev was also accused of abuse while participating in the 2012 season of Strictly Come Dancing in Britain by his dance partner Fern Britton.
“He (Chigvintsev) would look at my feet and just kick me or shove me,” she told The Huffington Post UK.
She added: “He was like, ‘Shut your face. Go home before I kill you.’”
A source also told The Sun he would mock her weight too.
TOP PHOTO: One of the images Chigvintsev submitted with his restraining order. Courtesy: Superior Court of California.
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Nikki ‘Bella’ Garcia gets restraining order, details of altercation released