Dancing With the Stars Alum Cheryl Burke Addresses Artem Chigvintsev’s Arrest

Cheryl Burke is speaking out. 

The Dancing With the Stars alum reacted to the arrest of costar and close friend Artem Chigvintsev—who has been married to Nikki Garcia since 2022—after he was taken into custody under a domestic violence charge Aug. 29. 

"Artem, someone who I've grown up with," Cheryl began on the Aug. 30 episode of her podcast Sex, Lies and Spray Tans. "We used to live together in my family's home in the Bay Area. It's so shocking. I get kind of emotional." 

"My heart goes out to everyone involved," she continued. "It's just really hard for me because he was he's my family. I don't know what to say here other than I hope everybody's okay." 

Cheryl—who had known Artem for decades and whose friendship only grew when he joined the DWTS cast in 2014—added, "This is just kind of shocking still for me." 

Following Artem's arrest, Nikki's rep shared an update, telling E! News in an Aug. 30 statement, "This is a private matter and Nikki asks for privacy for her and her family at this time."

Artem—who shares son Matteo, 4, with the former WWE wrestler—was released on a $25,000 bail in Napa, Calif. Aug. 29, according to booking documents viewed by E! News. The 42-year-old was charged with California penal code section 273.5 (a)PC, which is related to acts of violence against a spouse or other cohabitant.   

E! News has reached out to Artem’s reps for comment and has not heard back.

His arrest came days after he and Nikki celebrated their second wedding anniversary. Alongside the pics from their wedding in Paris, Artem wrote, "Happy anniversary my love, can't see my life without you. You are my everything."

For her part, the 40-year-old shared a video from their nuptials, where she quoted Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love."

"This song is our love story," she wrote. "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."

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