Still head over heels! Nikki Bella opened up about the ongoing passion in her relationship with husband Artem Chigvintsev.
“We’re very good with our sex life. We don’t wait weeks. We’re actually very good in that way,” the professional wrestler, 39, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month while promoting her hosting gig on the new celebrity game show Barmageddon. “I feel like [it’s] because we both try, but in a way where it doesn’t feel forced. … I still get butterflies when we kiss and it’s crazy.”
The athlete and Chigvintsev, 40, tied the knot in August after more than three years of dating. When Bella caught up with Us, the couple had yet to reach a certain newlywed milestone.
“We still have not slept in our own bed as a married couple, which I’m really eager to do that. I’m like, ‘Artem, we haven’t even made love as husband and wife in our own bed. This is crazy.’ But the day we landed back from Paris, Artem had to come straight to L.A. for Dancing With the Stars,” the WWE ambassador explained.
Chigvintsev was paired with Heidi D’Amelio for season 31 of the Disney+ reality competition series. The finale episode aired live on November 21.
“Artem and I finally get to be in our own bed together as husband and wife and I’m really excited for it,” the two-time WWE Divas Champion shared. “But it’s crazy because sometimes people say like, ‘Oh, nothing really changes [after marriage].’ But I felt like a lot has changed — just both of our perspective[s] in life now as a couple, and how we’re there for each other and we just look at things more as a team than individuals and I’ve really enjoyed that.”
The California native added that her favorite thing about the DWTS pro is his “sweet calming aura,” saying that it balances out her high energy levels.
“It’s what I didn’t realize I needed in my life because I’m just a go-getter, I’m a hustler, I’m nonstop. I might have a lot of energy and Artem calms me in every aspect of life. And he’s brought a lot of grace into my life. Being a fighter and a tomboy, I just, in a way, can be rough around the edges. And he’s brought this beautiful grace into my life that has made me take on life in such a beautiful, calming, soft way,” she shared.
Two years before their nuptials, the happy couple welcomed a son, Matteo, in July 2020. Bella told Us that the 2-year-old is “so Artem.”
“He is so graceful. He’ll go on his tippy toes, he’ll point his toes, he does the splits. Everything he will do is so graceful and like a dancer. And I’m like, ‘OK, well I think that’s gonna be what he does,’” she shared. “His wildness is totally me. He’s very wild.”
The proud mom added that her son is “obsessed with numbers” but “has his whole own vocabulary,” which she thinks might be the product of hearing his parents speak other languages.
“We don’t know if it’s because he’s heard Russian, English and Spanish so much that he’s kind of just combined everything. He just wants his own language,” she said. “What I’ve realized about him though is when he wants something, he knows exactly how to say it.”
The Grossmont College alum also gushed about working with Blake Shelton and Carson Daly on Barmageddon, which premieres on the USA Network Monday, December 5, at 11 p.m. ET. The two Voice personalities star in and executive produce the reality show.
“They’re two of my favorite people in the world now. They are absolutely amazing,” Bella said of Shelton, 46, and Daly, 49. “They are so down to earth, they are hilarious and they just make you feel good. And you see that in every episode.”
The WWE Hall of Famer described the show as “larger than life” as celebrities compete against viral video creators in a series of bar games. “We just let our hair down, have some drinks and have a lot of fun. And let me tell you, it is so much fun,” she said.
Nikki Bella Says I Do premieres on E! on Thursday, January 26, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
With reporting by Leanne Aciz Stanton.
