Single and ready to mingle! Nikki Bella told Us Weekly exclusively that she and her former Dancing With the Stars partner, Artem Chigvintsev, are “just friends” despite their strong bond and dating history.
“He’s on tour and so I’m kind of like … whatever city I’m in I kind of explore it … by myself,” Bella, 35, told Us at the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women Red Dress Collection 2019 fashion show in New York City on Thursday, February 7. She jokingly added: “Or, Prince Charming jumps out of a bar or restaurant and sweeps me off my feet.”
While the WWE star and the professional dancer aren’t in a relationship, Bella admitted that they “have so much chemistry and a cool connection.” As for what it takes to win her heart? “Opus One [wine],” she quipped, before getting serious. “For me, it’s connection. Because I’ve been set up on blind dates — that doesn’t work out.”
Even though they’re currently just friends, Us broke the news early last month that the reality television star and the DWTS pro had been dating “for a while,” but the romance seemed casual. One of the pair’s dates was shown on an episode of Total Bellas a few weeks later, and their spark was apparent.
“You look good,” the professional wrestler flirtatiously told the Russia native on the January 27 episode. “A lot’s happened since I’ve seen you last, which has been a long time.”
Bella and her longtime beau, John Cena, called off their engagement in April 2018 after six years together. “While this decision was a difficult one, we continue to have a great deal of love and respect for one another,” the duo said in a statement at the time. “We ask that you respect our privacy during this time in our lives.”
The Bella Twins member later told Us that she was excited about what the future holds for her love life. “I haven’t been able to really enjoy the single life properly,” she confessed in December. “It’s hard being a single girl I’m really looking forward to wandering into some bars and being a single girl.”
With reporting by Diana Cooper
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