Nikki Garcia releases painful statement on split from Artem Chigvintsev

Nikki Garcia broke her silence after her messy split from ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev.

Nearly three months after her husband's August 28 arrest on suspicion of corporal injury to a spouse, the 41-year-old WWE star returned to her podcast The Nikki & Brie Show.

Garcia spoke on her podcast about how she navigated one of the painful times of her life.

"I disconnected from social media, from the world, and 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. So I was gonna do whatever it took for that most importantly, and then just needing space for healing, for facing trauma head on, all of that," she said.

The former wrestler went on to say, "It's been really tough. I've been heartbroken. Sad. You know, you dream of having this family and you have this incredible love and it just goes the other way. And you go from having a great love story to having a terrible one. And I never saw any of it coming, you know, as far as, like, what the ending would be."

It is pertinent to mention that Garcia shares a 4-year-old son Matteo, with Chigvintsev.

"I tried to handle this whole situation even though I was in so much pain. I was just trying to do what was best for everyone."

Chigvintsev and Garcia settled for divorce on November 21 in private mediation.

"I do want to continue to protect Mateo in those ways because that's what's been the hardest part about all this, and that's been so heartbreaking. I didn't know that your heart can break that many times in such a short period of time," she added.