Addressing her divorce publicly for the first time, WWE Hall
of Famer Nikki Garcia said that she needed time away from
everything to protect her son and heal following months-long
issues with her now ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev.

Garcia was speaking on The Nikki & Brie Show podcast,
returning to the show for the latest episode after several
weeks out.

“It’s been really tough. I’ve been heartbroken…sad,” Nikki
told her sister. “You know, you dream of having this family
and you have this incredible love and it just goes the other
way. And you go from having a great love story to having a
terrible one.”

Nikki admitted that it has been a big struggle for her as
she never imagined she would have that ending although she
played up things a lot better than what they were in public,
something which she now regrets doing.

She said that her son deserves the greatest dad ever, and
she will not be dragging her ex-husband in the mud because
that’s not what Matteo needs or deserves.

“You fight for your kids, you want to stick together because
that’s what the kids want. And I tried really hard,” Nikki
said.

She added that she’s been finding it tough without her son
now that they have shared custody of him and she’s never
been at home without him before.

“Really, really hard…very emotional. Even yesterday. I cry
every time he leaves.”

You can listen to it at
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7LVkgLSJCkH0olnmfIt4zX.