Artem Chigvintsev is a pro dancer and Madix will make her 'DWTS' debut in season 32.
Nikki Garcia is still waiting to hear whether her husband, Artem Chigvintsev, will return to season 32 of Dancing With the Stars, but she's already got her eye on a contestant she hopes he's partnered with -- Ariana Madix!
Garcia revealed as much when she spoke to ET's Nischelle Turner backstage at the Dolby Theatre for the 2023 ESPY Awards in Hollywood, adding that she's intrigued by the Vanderpump Rules star because she "has a good story to tell."
The former WWE wrestler (formerly known as Nikki Bella) prefaced by saying there's still no official word on whether Chigvintsev -- who joined DWTS in season 19 in 2014 -- will return for season 32, but she's hopeful it'll happen.
"You know, they don't tell him 'til kind of like, I think it's like August," Garcia tells ET. "This season's going to be super incredible ... and around this time when it gets [to] July I'm like, 'Oh, he's going to know in a few weeks. Who's his partner going to be?' I'm so excited."
"When I heard Ariana, I was like, 'Artem, oh my gosh! You and Ariana would be so perfect,'" Garcia continued. "'You get reality TV. You can bring something out of her. You can tell her story so beautifully in a contemporary dance or ballroom dance.'"
While Madix's casting was announced last week, the rest of the cast won't be revealed until Sept. 13 on Good Morning America, which opened with Derek Hough saying, "Say goodbye to the drama and hello to the dance floor." The drama, of course, is in reference to the so-called "Scandoval," a tsunami triggered by Madix's longtime boyfriend, Tom Sandoval, cheating on her with their friend and co-star, Raquel Leviss.
But not everybody was caught up by the Scandoval storm. Just ask DWTS co-host Alfonso Ribeiro, who admitted to ET that he wasn't familiar with Madix.
"You know, it’s funny because I’m so not involved in television anymore that I have no idea who anyone is anymore," Ribeiro explained. "I’m so into my kids and into the family."
"I literally had to call up Deena Katz, who is our executive producer and [head of] casting, and say, 'Um, so, who is this? 'Cause I have no idea,'" he continued. "I just I don’t pay attention, right? Unless it's a show that I watch, you know? So I was like, 'Oh, Vanderpump Rules? OK, yeah, got it. Never seen her, but cool.'"
This interview was done prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, which began on July 13, 2023.
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