Time flies! When Artem Chigvintsev and Nikki Bella welcomed their son in July, they weren’t quite ready.
“We were supposed to take classes and stuff, but because of [the coronavirus pandemic], we couldn’t,” the Dancing With the Stars pro, 38, told Extra on Tuesday, September 22. “We’re not as prepared as we wanted to be.”
He and the Total Bellas star, 36, are learning as they go while raising son Matteo, and the 1-month-old “brings so much joy” to their lives.
“I still can’t believe he is mine,” the Russian dancer told the outlet. “It’s always hard to leave him [while filming season 29 of DWTS], especially when he is being super cuddly and smiling and all happy. He’s been amazing. … I just want to make him proud. I’m doing it for him.”
The former professional wrestler has been “a crazy amazing mom” during her fiancé’s absence, Chigvintsev added. His partner, Kaitlyn Bristowe chimed in, calling Bella “a trooper.”
When the former Bachelorette, 35, said the California native has gone into “mom mode,” Chigvintsev agreed, explaining, “It does exist. She is such a trooper. She has to wake up to feed him. When I get home, I try to be as much help as I can.”
The couple’s baby boy arrived in July, and the new dad “was sobbing” at the time. “I don’t think people have seen a man sobbing like that,” he told Entertainment Tonight last month. “It was awful, but in the most joyful way. I mean, I was picking that baby up and putting him on me. And the baby, like, halfway opened his eyes and it just made me feel like, ‘Oh, my God. This is the most incredible thing.’ This is like the miracle that people talk about, you know? So just that whole experience, I want to relive every single day. Honestly.”
News broke in August that Chigvintsev was returning to DWTS after he was cut from the ABC show’s cast in season 28.
Matteo celebrated his dad’s premiere in a mirrorball onesie earlier this month. “My No. 1 supporter,” Chigvintsev captioned an Instagram photo of his son at the time. “I love you Teo with all my heart. @goodmorningamerica thank you for this glittery outfit for the premiere of DWTS.”
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