Artem Chigvintsev talks arrest, dismissed charges: 'Ruined my life completely'
Artem Chigvintsev is opening up about the fallout from his 2024 arrest following an alleged domestic violence incident, the district attorney's decision not to charge him and his divorce from ex-wife Nikki Garcia.
"It completely ruined everything for me. From every angle. It ruined my life completely," Chigvintsev said in a Feb. 18 interview on "The Glamorous Grind Podcast."
Chigvintsev was arrested following an alleged domestic violence incident on Aug. 29. The 42-year-old was booked on California penal code 273.5(a), which makes it illegal to injure a spouse, cohabitant or fellow parent in an act of domestic violence, and was released on $25,000 bail.
Nearly a month later, on Sept. 24, the Napa County District Attorney's Office announced in a press release that Chigvintsev would not face criminal charges related to his arrest "after a thorough review of the criminal investigation and careful evaluation of the evidence presented to the DA's Office."
"It hit me just even being in the police station being arrested. You're watching this on TV, like in TV shows when people are getting arrested and all that stuff, but experiencing [it] yourself. You're just in a huge denial. It's like, is this really happening?" Chigvintsev recalled.
Chigvintsev, who competed for 12 seasons as a dance professional on "Dancing with the Stars," said his mugshot was particularly damning, because when people see it, "for them, in their mind, you are immediately guilty."
"There is nothing you can say or try to justify yourself and change their minds," he continued. "When [you] have a mugshot, you're guilty immediately. There is not even a question of, like, what happened."
He added, "It's like when people say don't judge book by its cover, but we always do."
Garcia, with whom Chigvintsev shares 4-year-old son Matteo, filed for divorce on Sept. 11. A representative for Garcia later confirmed to ABC News in a statement on Nov. 20 that the couple had "settled their divorce and will not be going to court."
"Both parties decided to drop the domestic violence restraining orders against each other in an effort to move on with their lives and effectively co-parent their son," the representative said at the time.
In Tuesday's podcast episode, Chigvintsev addressed the former couple's decision to settle the divorce, saying, "I felt for me personally like I needed to go back to live my life, you know, and just I needed to move on emotionally, financially, and I just want my life to be normal again."
He also claimed it was not his idea to get a divorce and his goal would have been to keep the family "united."
In December, Garcia opened up about the divorce in a podcast appearance, saying, "You dream of having this family, and you have this incredible love, and it just goes the other way. And you go from having a great love story to having a terrible one … never saw any of it coming, you know, as far as what the ending would be."
Garcia said at the time that protecting Matteo throughout the process had been "the hardest part," adding, "I didn't know that your heart can break that many times in such a short period of time."
ABC News reached out to a representative for Garcia for comment on Chigvintsev's most recent remarks but did not immediately hear back.
