Artem Chigvintsev Hopes Son Matteo and Other ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Kids Will ‘Continue Legacy’ (Exclusive)

Artem Chigvintsev hopes his 3-year-old son, Matteo, will one day love to dance as much as his father. ET’s Denny Directo spoke with the pro dancer and his celebrity partner, Bachelorette alum Charity Lawson, ahead of Whitney Houston Week on Dancing With the Stars, and he shared what he’d like to pass down to his and wife Nikki Bella’s child — and why it’s sometimes an “odd feeling” to have him watching the show.

“First of all, I never thought I’d be a dad, than I never thought I would have a son,” Artem explained, noting that his son feels very comfortable on the dance floor. “He’s part of the crew. I feel like the dance legacy needs to continue and hopefully it’ll better the juniors. Then, who knows, all of our children will be actually doing it right.”

As for whether he and Nikki, who now goes by Nikki Garcia, are thinking about having more kids, Artem coyly replied, “I’m not the one carrying [the child] around for nine months. So that’s not going to be my question to answer.”

Artem isn’t the only DWTS pro manifesting a new generation of dancers. Last month, Jenna Johnson talked to ET about how her and Val Chmerkovskiy’s 10-month-old son, Rome, as well as Daniella Karagach and Pasha Pashkov’s 6-month-old daughter, Nikita, are already getting into the groove.

“They already connected hands at, like, zero years old so I think we got some strong chemistry going,” Jenna said of Rome and Nikita hitting the dance floor together one day. “It’s going to be an arranged dance partnership.”

Pasha agreed, telling ET, “I think they’re going to be dance partners. Dancing With the Stars: Babies, coming soon!” 

Val, however, was jokingly not as on board. “Well, Nikita is going to have to have a few tryouts,” he quipped. “We’re going to have to see if they have chemistry. If they fit physically. I know what my boy is capable of.”

Back to this week’s competition, Artem and Charity were anticipating Pose star Billy Porter coming on as a guest judge. 

Artem admitted, “We haven’t got to the point yet where the guest judge really has rewarded us with something. So we’re still kind of looking for that.”

Charity was a bit more optimistic, telling ET, “I think I’m on the edge of my seat for [Billy]. I think he’s going to bring, honestly, exactly what we all need at this point in the season: A breath of fresh air.”

The Bachelor Nation alum added of Porter, “I feel like he’s going to come with the energy. So it’s really going to just amplify the dance space and hopefully his scores reflect that and also the feedback. I feel like it’s going to be very honest.”

Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+. Keep checking ETonline for more exclusive coverage. 

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