Lea Thompson Reveals Artem Chigvintsev Was “Intense” On ‘DWTS’ Amid News Of His Domestic Violence Arrest: “He Would Get So Mad At Me”

Lea Thompson opened up about her time working with ballroom pro Artem Chigvintsev on Dancing With The Stars Season 19, noting that he was sometimes quite “intense” with her behind the scenes.

During a recent episode of Cheryl Burke‘s iHeart podcast Sex, Lies and Spray Tans, she and Burke reflected on the “shocking” news that Chigvintsev had been arrested in Napa County, California, during a domestic violence incident Aug. 29. According to Deadline, someone was reportedly injured at the scene.

While Thompson admitted that it “was hard working with him,” she chalked his “intense” nature up to nerves.

“It was his first year and it was a big deal to him,” she recalled. “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.”

“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,” she said.

Thompson, who studied ballet and modern dance when she was younger, said it became difficult for her to experiment with their routines.  “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,” she said, noting that he had become “so implacable.”

“It was really, really hard,” she admitted.

Thompson and Chigvintsev placed sixth that season. Chigvintsev has continued competing on the show since, but with the news of his recent arrest, it looks like the professional dancer will not be returning for Season 33 when it premieres later this month. However, a source claimed to Entertainment Weekly that there were “never” plans for him to compete this season.

The news of his arrest also reminded Thompson of a strange interaction she had with him on the show.

“Whatever this is that has happened to him, it’s actually really surprising to me,” she said of his arrest. “I don’t know what happened. The one really crazy thing he said to me, that made me think about it, was I remember him telling me that men are much better than women. And I said, why? And he said, ‘Because they’re stronger.'”

She said she responded by pointing out childbirth, which he scoffed at. Though she has not kept in touch with him after the show, Thompson speculated that Chigvintsev “was super nervous and couldn’t show it.”

“That’s why whatever has happened to him, it’s surprising to me. He seems sweet … I don’t know what happened,” she told Burke.

Chigvintsev has been married to former WWE wrestler Nikki Garcia, formerly known as Nikki Bella, since 2022; the pair previously competed together on DWTS in 2017. It is unclear if Garcia was present or involved in the incident. Neither Chigvintsev nor Garcia have commented on the arrest.

Dancing With The Stars returns with Season 33 on Disney+ Sept. 17.