Still in shock. Nikki Bella couldn’t believe her eyes after learning of Gleb Savchenko‘s recent split from wife Elena Samodanova.
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“I love Gleb and his wife,” the former pro wrestler, 36, said while speaking with Brie Bella during their “Bellas Podcast” on Wednesday, November 11. “I definitely was shocked. I thought they were doing amazing. It just goes to show you again … what you see on Instagram, you don’t really know what’s going on behind closed doors, right? Because if you look at their Instagram, they just look so happy and all family-oriented.”
Savchenko, 37, and Samodanova, 36, announced on Friday, November 6, that they were going their separate ways after 14 years of marriage and two children together. Shortly after confirming their split, rumors of infidelity swirled around the former couple, particularly surrounding Savchenko’s chemistry with season 29 Dancing With the Stars partner Chrishell Stause. Both the ballroom dancer and the Selling Sunset star, 39, denied the cheating allegations.
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“One thing that I’ve just known from personal experiences is there’s always two sides to every story so keep that in mind,” Nikki, who competed on season 25 of DWTS in 2017, said on Wednesday. “But then I know because things started to fall on Chrishell. So Chrishell came out with a statement and said, ‘We’re only friends,’ ’cause I think people then took that and assumed they were having an affair.”
The Total Bellas star admitted that during her experience on the ABC dance competition, she noticed plenty of pros growing close to their celebrity partners. Nikki competed with Artem Chigvintsev, and the duo later sparked a romance outside of the ballroom. In July, they welcomed their first child together, son Matteo, seven months after announcing their engagement. Chigvintsev, 38, is currently competing in the DWTS ballroom with Kaitlyn Bristowe.
“[Chrishell was] like, ‘We all just get really close. You just get really close with your partner,’ and she starts to talk about that and I’m like, ‘Yeah, right?’” Nikki continued on the podcast. “Then I’m like, ‘Wait! My guy has a partner!’ It’s funny now to be on the other side. … Artem didn’t find it too funny but people were like, ‘[It’s] Sleeping With the Stars,’ and had all these jokes of all these new names of Dancing With the Stars.”
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Though Savchenko and Samodanova’s split quickly turned messy, the Incomparable coauthor hopes the drama doesn’t sour DWTS‘ reputation.
“I know people will blame dance. And the one thing is, it is very touchy-feely with the opposite sex so that’s where I think it gets more attention. Or if people are playing a love relationship on a TV screen, I think those get more tension because they’re actually being pretty intimate. But I feel like this can happen anywhere,” Nikki said. “When you have an attraction to someone, that’s it. I know people who were on Dancing With the Stars and they hated who they were dancing with or they became like brother and sister. … I think that’s anywhere you go. If the attraction’s there, it’s there and that’s life and that’s how it happens.”
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