Cheryl Burke is weighing in on the recent arrest of her former Dancing With the Stars castmate Artem Chigvintsev on suspicion of domestic violence.
“It’s so shocking,” she said on the latest episode of her Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast. She described Chigvinstev, whom she competed against on 10 seasons of the ABC reality series, as “someone who I’ve grown up with, who, actually, we used to live together in my family’s home in the Bay Area.”
Burke was audibly emotional in her brief commentary on the Chigvinstev arrest, saying, “My heart goes out to everyone involved. It’s just really hard for me because he’s my family, and I don’t know what to say here other than I hope everybody’s okay.”
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Chigvinstev and Burke for further comment.
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Chigvinstev, 42, was arrested Thursday morning at his home in Napa County, Calif., on charges of corporal injury to spouse. He was subsequently released on $25,000 bail.
Neither Chigvinstev nor his wife, Nikki Garcia, have publicly spoken about the arrest. A rep for Garcia told PEOPLE, “This is a private matter, and Nikki asks for privacy for her and her family at this time.”
At one point on Burke’s podcast, when she found herself at a loss for words, her guest Kristyn Burtt said, “We hope everyone is safe, and obviously more details will be coming forward, and we’ll learn what happened in the situation, and we just have to really take a deep breath and realize that, you know —”
“Domestic violence is serious,” Burke cut in. She continued, “I just hope his kid’s okay. I hope everyone, his wife, and this is kind of shocking still for me.”
Garcia, 40, is a former WWE wrestler who performed under the name Nikki Bella, and star of the E! series Total Bellas. Chigvinstev was paired with Garcia on season 25 of Dancing With the Stars, after which they began dating and eventually married. They welcomed their first child, Matteo, in 2020.
EW has learned that Chigvinstev was not contracted to appear in the upcoming 33rd season of DWTS, despite appearing semi-consistently as a pro since season 19 in 2014, and winning season 29 with former Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe.
Burtt explained to listeners on Burke’s podcast that the news was hard for her to take because “you guys are co-workers, you’re friends, longtime friends, and even though it’s not directly impacting season 33, because he was not going to be on the show this season, it still impacts everyone involved with the show who has known him for a long time.”
Burke withheld explicit mention of her thoughts on the arrest, though she came close by saying, “domestic violence and Artem don’t really…” pausing, then saying, “That’s why it’s so shocking.”
Chigvinstev and Garcia recently celebrated their wedding anniversary. In his most recent Instagram post, Chigvinstev shared a picture of the couple walking down the aisle and wrote, “Happy anniversary my love, can’t see my life with out you. You are my everything.”
Listen to Burke and Burtt on Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans above.
