‘DWTS’ Pro Artem Chigvintsev Gives Positive Health Update Following Pneumonia Battle

Artem Chigvintsev is ready to get back on the dance floor following a difficult battle with pneumonia. After the Dancing With the Stars pro was forced to drop out of the show’s Live! tour in January due to his health, a representative for the tour told Entertainment Tonight that Chigvintsev will be back on stage as early as this week as the pro dancers and some of their celebrity partners tour Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday, Charlotte, North Carolina on Thursday, and Augusta, Georgia on Friday.

Back in January, Chigvintsev announced had encountered some “unexpected health issues” forcing him to take a break from the tour, but he assured fans he would return “as quickly as possible” to the stage. “Hi DWTS family,” he said at the time. “My time on tour so far has been wonderful – unfortunately I am having to step away from tour for a while, due to some unexpected health issues.”

“My goal is to recover as quickly as possible so I can rejoin my cast and crew on this incredible tour,” he continued. “Thank you for your patience and understanding. See you soon, Artem.” In early February, Chigvintsev shared an update on what was diagnosed as pneumonia with his fans, revealing he was going on a second course of antibiotics. “So, I had another X-Ray done yesterday and it came back still positive for pneumonia,” he shared in the update. “So I just got another set of antibiotics. This is of course number two. Hopefully, this one will do the magic, will do the trick to kick out pneumonia out of my lungs.” 

Chigvintsev’s fiancée, Nikki Bella, told Entertainment Tonight soon after, “He’s doing well. He still has pneumonia, it’s crazy! He gets rescanned on Monday, so fingers crossed his lungs are better.” Bella, who shares 1-year-old son Matteo with the dancer, said she could tell something was seriously wrong when Chigvintsev was first struggling with COVID-19.

“I could just tell there was something wrong, and something more [serious], so I was like, ‘He needs to see a doctor!’” she recalled. “I was the one who was like, ‘We need to get him to a doctor.’” The Total Bellas star added, “So, it’s been scary for a while, and we’re just hoping it heals because it’s his lungs.”