Cheryl Burke is the first member of the Dancing of the Stars community to speak out following Artem Chigvintsev‘s arrest.
On Thursday (August 29), the 42-year-old pro dancer was arrested on felony domestic violence charges in Napa, Calif. Artem has been married to wife Nikki Garcia, formerly Nikki Bella, since 2022, but reports have not indicated if she was involved in any incident surrounding his arrest.
Hours after Artem‘s arrest, Cheryl, 40, took to her podcast to react to the “shocking” situation.
Keep reading to find out more…“I hesitate to smile right now because of the current news … which I am in complete shock about,” Cheryl begin the latest episode of her Sex, Lies and Spray Tans podcast.
She went on to describe Artem as someone she had “grown up with,” revealing that they “used to live together” in her “family’s home in the [San Francisco] Bay area.”
“Artem — it’s so shocking, I get kind of emotional — so he was arrested today. And domestic violence has been thrown in the mix,” Cheryl said. “I’m not going to say that he was charged with [that] but allegedly, domestic violence was the issue and he has a bail of like $25,000.”
She continued, “My heart goes out to everyone involved. It’s just really hard for me because he is my family and I don’t know what to say here other than I hope everybody is okay.”
“Domestic violence is serious,” Cheryl said, adding that she “hopes” that Nikki and her 4-year-old son Matteo with Artem are both “OK.”
Cheryl has known Artem for years, even before they both appeared on Dancing with the Stars. The two have remained friendly after Cheryl left the show in 2022.
Cheryl also admitted that she never expected Artem to be accused of something like this, saying, “Domestic violence and Artem don’t really… that’s why it’s so shocking.”
If you missed it, Nikki‘s rep recently spoke out regarding the situation.
