The same day the cast of Dancing with the Stars was announced, fans also found out that pro-dancer Artem Chigvintsev would not be coming back. The 10-year vet announced this on Instagram, explaining that we was heartbroken to leave.
I just want to say how sad it makes me feel not to be part of Season 28 of DWTS. It’s been 10 years since I have joined this absolutely, one of a kind, incredible show! It has given me recognition as a dancer, choreographer and a teacher. I have had so many beautiful memories with all of my celebrity partners!They all have shaped me into the person that I am today. Special thank you goes to all the people behind the camera who work extremely hard to not only impress our fans but to make our pro dancer’s visions come to life. What I will miss the most is working along side my coworkers, the heroes of the show. I want to wish them and their new celebrity partners the best of luck this season! I want you all to make it better than it ever was before!
Because our DWTS Fans, who mean SO much to me, want DWTS to continue going strong for many, many years to come. To all the fans, I want to thank you SO much for supporting me all these years! I simply couldn’t have done it without you! Without your love! Without your connection! And most importantly without your support!You all have no idea how much I will miss you all this season! I’m already missing you all so much! Even though this is so hard on me, I will be DWTS #1 fan, cheering you all on every Monday night! Good luck to everyone on Seasons 28!
With lots of Love Artem
It was left up to the fans to try and figure out who made the decision for Artem to leave, but now after appearing on his girlfriend Nikki Bella's podcast, it turns out that Artem only found out days before the cast was announced that he wouldn't be back.
“I don’t know where to begin, to be honest with you,” he said. “Obviously, it was a massive shock. Having those calls is never, never, never fun.”
Artem knew something was up when by the Friday before the announcement, no one had been in touch with him. He contacted producers around 10am, and at 8pm he got a text asking if he was free to talk.
“So I immediately called and the first sentence I heard was, ‘Hey, we have bad news for you,'” he recalled.
“I dedicated 10 years of my life to that company,” he said. “And getting let go three days before an announcement, that’s like a punch in the stomach, really. It’s not even a job, it’s a lifestyle if you’ve been doing it for a very, very long time. There was never really a thought in my mind that I [wasn’t] going to be doing it. … But getting this call and [hearing], ‘There’s going to be no involvement in the show from now on’ — it’s like going through a breakup after 10 years.”
Artem's girlfriend on the other hand is being less diplomatic about it all.
“They’ve had these dancers on hold since March. And they don’t give them compensation for it. They’ve been all unemployed since March,” she said. “That made me really upset, because how do you put people on hold and then cut them last minute? … Now all the fall gigs are booked, and that part to me was so unfair.”
Despite having been on the show for 10 years, you'd think that Artem is confident in his talent Now, though, he's starting to question his ability.
“The one thing I’ve done all my life, and I study it and I dedicated pretty much all of my time for the past two decades, is dancing,” he said. “Being on a show like Dancing with the Stars for what I do, that is the top of the game. There is really no other job that gives you the satisfaction of choreographing, of teaching and getting the recognition in that spectrum. Did I get cut because they didn’t think I was good enough for the show?”
Obviously Artem is a phenomenal dancer, but being cut from the show like this can't have been easy for him.
