Putting their plans on hold. Nikki Bella and fiancé Artem Chigvintsev are not in a rush to have a second child — but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to feeling a little baby fever.
“We got in a big, detailed conversation about it. Because I was like, ‘You know, I do have baby fever, but I don’t know. Is right now right? Maybe do you want to try for a girl?’ And actually, Artem was like, ‘We need to wait,’” the athlete, 38, explained during the Wednesday, June 8, episode of “The Bellas Podcast” on SiriusXM’s Stitcher. “[Artem] prefers to wait a few years.”
The reality star noted that Chigvintsev, 39, wanted their 22-month-old son, Matteo, to get a little older before they expanded their family. “How our life is right now with work, with Mateo and his age and the attention we give him — [Artem]’s like, ‘Wait until he is four.’ And I was like, ‘I’m good with that.’”
She added: “But then it was weird how the tables kinda turned where I was like, ‘I mean, I am good with that.’ He [also] has Dancing With the Stars coming up soon. He made a comment, ‘I don’t want to leave and be dancing in Los Angeles and you’re home pregnant with Matteo and trying to do everything.’”
Bella and Chigvintsev met when they were partners on season 25 of Dancing With the Stars while she was still engaged to John Cena. Following her split from the wrestler, 45, the Total Divas alum moved on with the ballroom pro in January 2019. They announced their engagement the following year and welcomed their first child in July 2020.
Since becoming parents, the couple have been candid about the obstacles they’ve faced in their relationship, particularly when their jobs face them to be long-distance. The former pro wrestler previously pointed out that the Russia native’s season 30 run on the ABC ballroom competition show with partner Melora Hardin brought big challenges for them to work through.
“This is the longest we haven’t seen each other. We went six or seven weeks [apart],” Bella said on “The Bellas Podcast” in November 2021. “I got AGT: Extreme … [and] Artem and I both discussed, Teo goes everywhere with mama. That’s where he’s comfortable, that’s where he does best. And, you know, it’s been hard on [Artem] and it’s been hard on me, too, not to have my man in my bed.”
According to the California native, being “raised in different countries” also created communication issues for the pair.
“When you’re away from each other, there’s different time zones. Myself having Matteo and working long hours, I need Artem to check in in ways of like, ‘How are you? how are you doing? How’s Matteo doing? What can I do?’” she added at the time. “Sometimes I feel like the other person, mainly the dads, they get into this [space of thinking] they FaceTimed and that’s great, and they get on the phone and that’s where it ends for them. And it’s just hard when the involvement beyond that isn’t there.”
After going through counseling, Bella revealed that she and Chigvintsev were in a much better place. “We’re actually in a good spot. We were doing a little rocky for a bit,” the WWE Divas champion shared. “[We] had to get back into therapy. You know, distance is really hard. … Now we’re stronger than ever.”
