While speaking with ET via Zoom on Monday, the 'DWTS' pro also shared details on his upcoming wedding.
Artem Chigvintsev is "the happiest person in the world" right now after welcoming his first child, a baby boy, with fiancée Nikki Bella on July 31.
While chatting with ET via Zoom on Monday, just hours after it was announced he was returning as a pro for season 29 of Dancing With the Stars, the dancer emotionally opened up about his first few weeks of fatherhood.
"Oh, I was sobbing, like, so bad when baby arrived," Artem, 38, admitted. "Like, I don't think people have seen a man sobbing like that. 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,'" he continued. "This is like the miracle that people talk about, you know? So just that whole experience, I want to relive every single day. Honestly."
Artem teared up while adorably revealing to ET that he's dedicating this season of DWTS to his baby boy. And it sounds like the newborn is already learning some moves from his famous dad!
"It's a bit surreal. I always imagined myself, like, 'OK, one day I'll have a kid,' and then finally it's here," he said. "It's just like, for the first time, you have so much love that you never knew existed towards this little human being that you hold in your arms. You care for it so much and just want to make this little person's life absolutely perfect. You want to see them smile."
"I can't get enough of him. He's just the most precious little thing," he gushed. "I just want to smother him in kisses. I've been, like, dancing in the living room with the baby, because when it screams and stuff, it soothes him. I've just been doing a lot of stuff, trying to do the best I can."
Of course, getting to spend even more time with his "incredible fiancée," Nikki, has been wonderful, too, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. He confirmed to ET that unlike the other married couples on DWTS, he will not have to quarantine away from Nikki and the baby during production.
"Nikki's been such a rock through all of this," Artem marveled. "I have to give a huge thank you to her for even allowing me to do Dancing With the Stars. I know she's very happy for me. She's like, 'Oh my God, you look like you have your mojo back,' and I'm like, 'You know what? I think I do so.' She's super supportive. I'm just so blessed to have her in my life."
Artem added that the two have also been using this unique quarantine period to plan for their upcoming wedding, which he says will be happening "soon."
"I don't think I can reveal the date, but soon. It's definitely in the works," he teased. "We've had so much time to plan things, so I thought, 'Let's make this time useful.' So, yeah. It's definitely in conversation and some things in the works."
As for whether Artem and Nikki could see themselves ever expanding their little family in the future?
"We decided like, 'Hey, let's just see how we're doing with the first one because we wanna be good parents.' And trust me, when I say we're complete newbies, we are complete newbies," he joked. "Like, for the first week and a half, I think we both woke up to every single noise the baby makes to make sure he is OK. Is it too cold? Is he still hungry? Is his diaper changed? You're just so worried that it's like it's the end of the world."
"I was freaking out, but it's not like there is a book on how to be a parent," he added. "I've been on the phone with my mom, telling her every single situation, like, 'Hey, if that happens, what do I do?' And Nicole is getting all the advice from [her sister] Brie ... we have a good support system. So, yeah, let's just deal with one baby first and then we'll see about the second one. But they, I do want to have a second kid."
Hear more on the happy parents in the video below!
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