![Nikki Garcia Shares 6-Figure Amount She Had to Pay Ex Artem in Divorce, Talks Child Support, Co-Parenting, & Claims She "[Pays] for Everything," Plus Denies She Lied About DV Incident](https://realityblurb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Nikki-Garcia-and-Artem-Chigvintsev.jpg "Nikki Garcia and Artem Chigvintsev")
Credit: Michael Simon/startraksphoto, Instagram
Nearly a year after the former Dancing With the Stars couple, who were paired together for the series’ 25th season in 2017, called it quits following a domestic violence incident resulting in Artem’s arrest, Nikki, 41, confirmed how much she had to pay Artem, 42. She also spoke of child support, co-parenting their four-year-old son Matteo, and the encounter that ended their marriage.
“I had to give him $200,000,” Nikki confirmed on the May 22 episode of SiriusXM’s The Nikki and Brie Show. “[I was the] breadwinner … I got a steal. I’m not going to lie, which is crazy to say.
After a private mediation with Artem, a judge told Nikki, “’This is the first time in all the years I’ve done this, where a woman had to pay a man … You should be so damn proud that you built such an empire that someone wants a piece of it.'”
And, even though it “[hurt]” to sign over the funds to her ex, because she “broke [her] neck for that money,” Nikki doesn’t feel like “she lost” in the divorce.
In addition to the divorce settlement, child support also came into play for Nikki and Artem. According to reports, Nikki has to pay $3,500 each month to Artem for child support.
“If you are the breadwinner, if you make more money, it is literally a state calculator. They put in the incomes, and they go, ‘Boom, this one makes more money. This is what you owe per month,'” she explained, noting that the amount could change if her or Artem’s income changes in the years until Matteo turns 18.
“Artem and I, right now, are in a great place. We are co-parenting so amazing, and it makes Matteo’s life so amazing, and I don’t want it any other way,” Nikki continued. “Things in Matteo’s world right now [are] so great because Artem and I are so on the same page, and I want that.”
According to Nikki, she “[pays] for everything [for] Matteo,” but she does so willingly.
“I pay for dance and T-ball … I work my a** off because I want to give my son the world,” she reasoned. “The child support doesn’t bother me because I want Matteo to make sure his life in the other house is equal … It’s so maybe that other parent can get a better place for rent, so then your child support goes to that, right? Or they can eat the same organic food, or so, for me, it doesn’t, I don’t even think twice about it.”
What Nikki did have a “hard time” with was people thinking she is “guilty” or a “liar” in terms of what went down between her and Artem last August.
“I haven’t lied about one thing, and I’m going to just make that clear,” Nikki clarified. “The cops never asked me for autographs or photographs. I have been so damn honest from day one and that’s why when everyone says, ‘She’s glowing, she’s so happy,’ because I’ve lived in my truth. I know how to take accountability. I know what it’s like not to be perfect.”
“I’m not a perfect person, but if something like that, if it was opposite, I would have taken accountability,” she added.
Then, noting that the judge had made her promise to sign a prenup in any future marriages, Nikki admitted to having a bad view on the matter in the past.
“I used to think when someone wanted me to sign a prenup, I took it as, ‘Do they not love me as much?’ And now that I’ve experienced it and now learned and educated myself on it, now I get it,” she stated. “I will never, if I ever marry, which I doubt I will, but if I do, I’m not gonna be the never say nevers, or never, I’ll be the never say never, that yeah. Prenup no matter what.”