In it together. Artem Chigvintsev opened up about wanting his fiancée, Nikki Bella, to “feel happy” amid her postpartum depression battle.
“It’s a very sad, sad feeling,” the Dancing With the Stars pro, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, October 5. “That’s going to be an absolute nightmare for me if I feel that she’s depressed.”
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The Russian dancer went on to say that “communication is key” to supporting the former professional wrestler, 36, after their son Matteo’s July birth.
“Obviously, I don’t know what she’s going through,” the Strictly Come Dancing alum explained. “None of the guys are really aware. It does exist. You definitely have to take a look at it. I have a whole different appreciation for women to not just carry a baby, not just give birth, [but to] recover from that to make you back to yourself, feeling normal.”
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The Total Bellas star first opened up about her mental health battle last month, saying on a September episode of the “Total Bellas Podcast” that it knocked her “on [her] ass.”
The California native went on tell her sister, Brie Bella, at the time: “I didn’t realize at week seven, you kind of come out of your baby blues and … go two different paths. You go the path of being healthy or you go down the path of being depressed, and that depression path can be a really dark, deep hole. I was starting to feel invisible. … It just started to build up. Being alone with Matteo and just feeling lonely and not loved and invisible.”
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At times, the athlete “hated” her fiancé, she revealed. “He’s like, ‘You could be mean.’ And I’m not gonna lie, I did have moments of being mean. It’s true. … There were times I’d look at him and I’m like, ‘I think I hate you.’”
The couple announced in January that they had a baby on the way, weeks after sharing their engagement news.
With reporting by Kayley Stumpe