‘Dancing With the Stars’: Artem Chigvintsev Teared up When Producers Asked Him to Return

Artem Chigvintsev was “very emotional” upon learning that he would be invited back to Dancing With the Stars for the 29th season. After being left off the line-up for Season 28, the pro told Entertainment Tonight in a new interview that he “honestly cannot believe” he’s getting another shot at the Mirrorball Trophy.

“Long story short, I [originally] contacted the producers saying, ‘Hey, I’m open to coming back to the show,’” he shared with ET. “There had been a few conversations back and forth but nothing was guaranteed and then it happened.” When he got the call from producers asking for him to rejoin the cast, Chigvintsev “teared up,” he confessed, adding he was totally speechless before being overcome with the desire to get off the phone, tell fiancée Nikki Bella the good news and squeeze his newborn son, Matteo: “So, I’m dedicating this season to my baby boy.”

“This year has been so amazing to me,” he gushed. “First of all, I have a beautiful fiancée. Now I have a newborn baby that we just adore and love. And this is like the cherry on the cake. Getting my dream job back, you know? There is really no other job in the world like Dancing With the Stars. So it’s just a perfect situation.” Chigvintsev added he feels like the “happiest person in the world,” and that everything is “perfect” in his life. “I’m just so scared to even admit it because I want nothing to go wrong,” he added. “I’m holding to this moment as long as I can.”

The professional dancer also thanked his fans for sticking with him through the highs and lows of his career. “I’m just grateful,” he raved. “I want to make them happy by being on the show, performing different performances and hopefully going all the way to the end. Maybe getting that Mirrorball!”

Dancing With the Stars returns to ABC on Sept. 14. Other pros competing this season are Sasha Farber, Pasha Pashkov, Jenna Johnson, Emma Slater, Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Val Chmerkovskiy, Peta Murgatroyd, Gleb Savchenko, Cheryl Burke, Sharna Burgess and Keo Motsepe. Two new pros will be joining the show in a full-time role this season: Britt Stewart, the first Black female pro to join the show after years dancing in the troupe, and Daniella Karagach, who was a former member of the troupe who is married to Pashkov.