Back to the Future star Lea Thompson reflected on her time participating in Dancing With the Stars with pro dance partner Artem Chigvintsev, whom she described as “intense,” alluding to the disrespectful way he would speak to her.
“It was hard working with him because it was his first year and it was a big deal to him,” Thompson told Cheryl Burke on the Sept. 8 episode of her iHeart podcast Sex, Lies and Spray Tans. “He was so intense. It was so much more important to him than to me, honestly. And so that made me really nervous, it made me crazy after a while.”
Thompson, who took ballet as a child, starred in Season 19 of the long-running ABC-turned-Disney+ competition series, at which point pro dancer Burke had left, prior to eventually returning in later seasons. During the conversation, the two discussed the Hunger Games-like qualities of the show and Chigvintsev’s arrest.
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As previously reported by Deadline, Chigvintsev was arrested early on Aug. 29 in Napa County, Calif. on California penal code 273.5(a), which makes it illegal to injure a spouse, cohabitant or fellow parent in an act of domestic violence. He was released after posting bail set at $25,000. Injuries were reportedly involved, though no victim was identified. (Chigvintsev has been married to former WWE wrestler Nikki Garcia, aka Nikki Bella, since 2022, but it’s unclear whether she was involved in the incident.)
“Some of the things he would say to me … just being Russian and being a ballet dancer and having Russian dance teachers who were always very difficult, it just got to be really hard,” Thompson said of her partner.
The two had differing dance backgrounds, as she was versed in ballet and modern dance, whereas he had ballroom expertise. That gulf led to tense moments, she said: “I was never allowed to say, ‘Can I try this?’ He would get so mad at me, like I can’t do that, I can’t think about that.”
However, the Switched at Birth actress said that while “he was so implacable and it was really, really hard,” the production itself was stressful due to last-minute changes that would increase her nervousness. She and Burke discussed how the former had lost weight throughout the season because of her anxiety.
“I felt like it was one-sided, when I saw you say to Artem, ‘Don’t talk to me like this,’ yet they didn’t show what Artem was saying to you. It didn’t make sense to me,” Burke agreed.
In general, Thompson said the show’s “confrontational” nature was difficult to shoulder, specifically for women. “Where you’re trying to be everything for everybody then it’s really difficult … being wholesome and sexy and funny and strong and stand up for yourself, but not be too mean. All of that, while you’re exhausted. You don’t have a day off, and your body hurts. And you’re literally afraid you’re gonna kill yourself.”
Thompson also reflected on a “weird” comment Chigvintsev made, claiming “men are much better than women.” When she questioned why he thought that, he replied, “because they’re stronger.” Thompson rebuffed the comment, pointing to childbirth, and Burke scoffed at the remark.
However, Thompson maintained that the fraught relationship was likely due to Chigvintsev’s nerves: “I just mostly felt he was super nervous and couldn’t show it and that kind of got transmitted to me.” She said the “honeymoon phase” of the working relationship ended around week four of the show, and while she would like to believe they were friends, she hasn’t kept in touch with him and noticed he had unfollowed her on social media.
Despite this, Thompson said she was shocked by the news. “That’s why whatever has happened to him, it’s surprising to me. He seems sweet … I don’t know what happened.” She echoed Burke’s sentiments made last month, who also deemed it “shocking” as she had felt that Chigvintsev was like her family.
Season 33 will premiere on Disney+ Sept. 17.