Dancing with the Stars pro dancer, Cheryl Burke shared some words of wisdom with Nikki Garcia amid her ongoing divorce from Artem Chigvintsev, which was initiated following his arrest.
In a recent interview with People, Burke, 40, advised the former WWE host and the estranged wife of her former DWTS colleague to prioritise herself amid the challenging period.
"It's not easy, but I believe if you just give the time that you need to grieve, we all grieve differently, there's no one way that someone should experience grief, but also, it's just important to choose you and to protect you," Burke explained, as she also experienced a public divorce from actor Matthew Lawrence in 2022.
"I think especially in society today, we tend just to take care of everyone else's needs or what we think people want from us without really sitting with ourselves and just figuring that out, even if it doesn't necessarily mean you agree with society today," the Sex, Lies and Spray Tans podcast host added.
Burke’s message to Garcia, 40, comes after the DWTS alum first reacted to Chigventsev’s arrest on one of her episodes of the iHeart podcast, released on August 30, one day after he was taken into custody under California Penal Code 273.5(a), which criminalises domestic violence against a spouse, cohabitant, or fellow parent.
"It’s just really hard for me 'cause he’s my family," Burke said.
"I just hope his kid’s OK, his wife. This is kind of shocking for me still." she added, struggling to comprehend the situation, "Domestic violence and Artem don’t really … that’s why it’s so shocking."