Artem Chigvintsev’s former “Dancing with the Stars” partner, Lea Thompson, is reflecting on her experience working with the pro dancer just weeks after the 42-year-old was arrested for domestic violence.
During an appearance on Cheryl Burke’s podcast, “Sex, Lies and Spray Tans,” the 63-year-old actress described Chigvintsev as “intense” during their rehearsals and revealed that he’d often “get mad” at her.
“It was hard working with him because it was his first year, and it was a big deal to him,” Thompson told Burke. “He was so intense. It was so much more important to him than to me, honestly. And so that made me really nervous, it made me crazy after a while.”
“Some of the things he would say to me… just being Russian and being a ballet dancer and having Russian dance teachers who were always very difficult, it just got to be really hard,” added Thompson, who starred in season 19 of the dance competition show.
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“I was never allowed to say, ‘Can I try this?’ He would get so mad at me, like I can’t do that, I can’t think about that,” she claimed.
Burke, a former “DWTS” pro who previously spoke about how “shocking” Chigvintsev’s arrest was, said she felt the portrayal of the duo’s dynamic on screen was “one-sided.”
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“I felt like it was one-sided, when I saw you say to Artem, ‘Don’t talk to me like this,’ yet they didn’t show what Artem was saying to you. It didn’t make sense to me,” she said.
Thompson also shared a “weird” comment Chigvintsev had made that left her questioning the dancer’s beliefs. According to the actress, Chigvintsev claimed, “men are much better than women… because they’re stronger.”
Representatives for Thompson and Chigvintsev did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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On Aug. 29, Chigvintsev – who married Nikki Bella in 2022 – was arrested at approximately 9:40 am in violation of California Penal Code Section 273.5(a) PC, also known as domestic violence or corporal injury to a spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, former cohabitant, or the mother or father of his or her child, according to records viewed by Fox News Digital.
The pro dancer was booked at 10:40 a.m. He was released at approximately 2:18 p.m. that same day on $25,000 bail.
A court date has been set for Nov. 4.
“When someone is charged with felony domestic violence, usually this means there is a visible injury or credible eyewitness,” Napa County Sheriff’s public information officer Henry Wofford said in a statement to E! News. “Our deputies felt comfortable arresting him on felony domestic violence charges.”
According Wofford, certain details of the case, including the victim’s name, are not being shared due to laws protecting the privacy of victims of domestic violence.
The arrest comes two days after the couple celebrated their two-year wedding anniversary.
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“This song is our love story,” the former WWE star, whose legal name is Nikki Garica, wrote on Instagram, alongside a video montage of their wedding day with the song, “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” playing in the background. “I’ll never forget where I was when I asked Jesus about Artem. Having a conversation with He & God. How my feelings felt too soon. It all felt too fast. And then this song came on. And that’s when I knew that I was falling in love with him and that it was all meant to be.”
Chigvintsev posted his own Instagram tribute, writing: “Happy anniversary my love, can’t see my life without you. You are my everything.”
The couple share a 4-year-old son, Matteo.
Days after the arrest, Bella co-hosted Netflix’s “Joey Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef” hot live dog eating contest in Las Vegas and was noticeably not wearing her wedding ring.
Chigvintsev and Bella met in 2017 while they were partnered together on season 25 of “DWTS.” At the time, Bella was engaged to John Cena, but the pair called off their engagement in 2018.
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