Nikki Garcia Admits Her Relationship With Artem Chigvintsev Wasn't 'Great for a Long Time' Before Sudden Divorce: 'I Played It Up'

Everything was not as it seemed.

Nikki Garcia admittedly made her marriage to Artem Chigvintsev appear happier and healthier to the public than it was behind closed doors for "a long time" before filing for divorce from the Dancing With the Stars pro back in September.

"It’s sad," the WWE Hall of Famer confessed while breaking silence on her split during the Monday, December 2, episode of her and twin sister Brie's "Nikki & Brie" podcast. “[The relationship] hasn’t been great for a long time. I really played it up like things were a lot better than they were in the public eye. I felt like, ‘If I can just put this person on a pedestal … maybe they can believe that in themselves."

"I wanted [him] to heal. I wanted [him] to get help … because that’s what my son deserves," Nikki — who shares her 4-year-old son, Matteo, with Artem — explained of her reasoning.

Plus, the retired professional wrestler "didn’t want another failed public relationship" after her breakup from ex-fiancé John Cena made headlines and gained loads of attention from fans online.

While Nikki wasn't completely honest with the world during her and Artem's two-year marriage, the mom-of-one said she doesn't have any "regrets" for the way she behaved.

"I came at it with love," the Barmageddon host declared. "The day Matteo wants to sit and talk about it, I have all the proof that I tried to handle everything with love and care. All I wanted to do was to protect [him]."

Elsewhere in the podcast episode, Nikki revealed she "disconnected from social media" and "from the world" over the tumultuous past few months — which saw Artem get arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, the charges against him getting dropped and the finalization of the former flames' split.

"I just knew that I needed to disconnect, because first things first, I'm a mom and my son's protection and privacy is the most important," she shared with listeners. "So I was going to do whatever it took for that, most importantly, and then just needing space, for healing, for facing trauma, head on, all of that. So it's been tough. It's been really tough. I've been heartbroken, sad."

"You dream of having this family, and you have this incredible love, and it just goes the other way," Nikki reflected. "And you go from having a great love story to having a terrible one, and — never saw any of it coming. You know, as far as what the ending would be. So it's just been a struggle."