Nikki Garcia is carrying a quiet, hard-won peace with her these days, and she isn’t about to let anyone rush her into a new chapter. More than a year after the finalization of her divorce from Artem Chigvintsev, the former WWE superstar is still very much in a season of romantic pause, and she is unapologetic about it. At a recent event in New York City held at the Lincoln Center, celebrating her new partnership with Madam Paleta Tequila and Rosa Mexicano, Garcia, 42, opened up about where she stands in what she describes as her “celibate” era. It wasn’t a rigid declaration of permanent solitude, but rather a gentle, grounded admission that she simply is not looking. “I at times feel like — not that I have that door closed — but I think it’s when you’re not looking,” she said. There is something almost ironic, she noted, about how the universe seems to bring opportunities to connect precisely when she is least interested in entertaining them. She described being at an Eagles game recently and having people eagerly approach her, introducing her to friends, trying to FaceTime with available men, all with the best intentions. And yet, Garcia could only smile and politely decline, explaining, “I’m not looking for … a team to have.” The door isn’t locked, she insists, but it is definitely closed for now, not out of fear or bitterness, but out of a deep desire to focus her energy on the things that truly require it: her career, her peace, and her young son. She is not mourning her singledom; she is protecting it.
Garcia’s refusal to prioritize dating is not a dramatic lifestyle choice made for the cameras, but rather an honest reflection of the life she has built after divorce. When she is not traveling for wrestling events, appearances, or brand partnerships, she is home, fully transformed into what she calls “mama mode.” There is no room in her calendar for the traditional rituals of modern dating—no late-night dinners, no weekend getaways with a new romantic interest, no carefully curated dating app profiles. “I literally haven’t been on a date,” she confessed, explaining that her life is structured around two demanding realities: the intensity of her professional life and the all-consuming nature of motherhood. That doesn’t mean there is no attention at all. Garcia acknowledged with a hint of warmth that she does occasionally text with a few people, that there are men in her phone who make her smile, and that at least one of them has been quietly earning points with her through the kind of low-key, long-game charm that doesn’t require a formal date. “Actually, one, he’s gained a lot of points in making me smile,” she said, with a playful edge that suggested she is not as removed from the possibility of romance as she sometimes claims to be. Yet, she remains aware that her current lifestyle leaves very little room for a real connection to take root. She is not intentionally swearing off love, but she is also not making space for it. She described her celibacy as both a choice and a consequence of circumstance, joking that she is “pretty much there” even if the word isn’t perfectly accurate. Before catching herself, she laughed and admitted, “But not by choice. Oh — maybe, actually by choice.” The playful correction says everything: she may not have planned it this way, but she has fully embraced it.
Garcia’s journey to this point has been anything but simple. She and Chigvintsev welcomed their son, Matteo, in 2020 and married two years later, in what seemed like the beginning of a beautiful family story. By August 2024, however, the couple had separated, and their divorce was finalized in May 2025. The public nature of their split made it impossible to process privately, and yet, Garcia has managed to navigate the aftermath with a maturity that is rooted in one guiding principle: her son comes first. During the event on Tuesday, she spoke candidly about the realities of single motherhood and offered advice to others who are trying to raise children alongside an ex-partner. Her approach is strikingly pragmatic and deeply rooted in love. “The more that you can keep your relationship with your ex-partner, like, you keep that out of it. You put your child first, and it’s all about your child,” she said. It is the kind of wisdom that sounds simple in theory but requires immense discipline in practice, especially when the relationship that ended was painful. Yet Garcia seems to have found a way to protect her son from the adult complications of her past. She does not allow the weight of her divorce to spill into the space where Matteo lives and grows. Instead, she has drawn a firm line between the broken partnership she once had with Chigvintsev and the sacred, ongoing commitment they share as parents. It is a distinction that she believes will make all the difference in Matteo’s life, and she speaks about it with the clarity of someone who has done the emotional work, even while admitting that it is not always easy.
There is nothing performative about the way Garcia talks about motherhood. When she describes her son, Matteo, her voice shifts into something softer, almost reverent. He is the center around which her entire world rotates, and she is unapologetic about the fact that he comes before everything else. “Raising him is absolutely amazing,” she said, and the simplicity of that statement carries a profound truth. She described the rhythm of her life with an almost cinematic clarity: the moment the plane lands, whether she is returning from a wrestling show or a press event, she doesn’t stop to decompress or check her phone. She drives straight to her little boy, picks him up, and immediately disappears into the world of being his mother. “I’m in mom mode that whole time,” she explained, and there is no sense that she resents the intensity of it. Instead, she speaks about it with a kind of joyful surrender. Matteo, she says, is the smartest, sweetest, cutest little human being she has ever known, and she is quick to add that he is a complete mama’s boy. It is not a role she is resigned to; it is a role she treasures. “It’s not only, like, the best job, but it’s just the greatest thing to be a mom, and he’s my everything,” she said. She even went so far as to say that she would quit everything—her career, her public life, all of it—just to be with him all the time. Those words are not meant as a dramatic exaggeration, but rather as a quiet declaration of where her priorities truly rest. She has already learned the most important lesson of single motherhood: the love you give to your child is never wasted, and the sacrifices you make are part of a larger investment in a future you may not fully see yet. “You always keep the kid first, keep the drama out of it, and just push through because it’ll be worth it one day,” she said. “It really will be.”
During the same event, Garcia also leaned into the more glamorous side of her new life, celebrating her role as Chief Margarita Officer for Madam Paleta Tequila. The partnership is a natural fit for someone who has always loved a great margarita and who takes her tequila seriously. “Margaritas are my thing,” she said, and she wasn’t kidding. As someone who has navigated the world of brand endorsements and celebrity collaborations for years, Garcia has become selective about which companies she lends her name to. When Madam Paleta approached her, something immediately clicked. The brand was women-run and women-founded, which mattered deeply to her, and the product itself won her over with its quality. She described tasting it for the first time and being surprised by how much she loved it—an organic, 100 percent blue agave tequila that was clean enough to meet her picky standards. But it was the tamarind flavor that truly sealed the deal. “I never thought I would like flavors,” she admitted, but the tamarind was something special. That initial encounter grew into a deeper relationship as she got to know the women behind the brand. “Everyone behind the scenes,” she said, impressed by the passion and intention that defined the company. The collaboration eventually expanded into something even bigger: a partnership with Rosa Mexicano to debut the Rosa Tamarita, a drink inspired by Garcia’s personal favorite, at participating locations beginning in November. For Garcia, this project is not just another endorsement deal; it is the culmination of months of exciting creative work, and she is visibly thrilled to be sharing it with the public.
Even as she pours herself into her professional collaborations and her role as a mother, Garcia seems to be experiencing a season of life that feels more balanced than ever before. She described the Madam Paleta partnership as a dream, one that came together at exactly the right moment. “Everything’s coming together so perfectly, and I feel super blessed,” she said, and there is a genuine sense that she means it. The launch of the Rosa Tamarita, a custom margarita that blends the flavors she loves with the quality she insists on, feels like a natural expression of her personal brand: bold, spicy, sweet, and unapologetically herself. She called it “the perfect spicy skinny,” a playful nod to the drink’s flavor profile and to her own desire to create something that feels indulgent without being heavy. But the drink is about more than just taste; it is a symbol of how she has rebuilt her life after a difficult year. She has not let divorce define her, has not let loneliness push her into decisions she isn’t ready to make, and has not allowed the demands of fame to pull her away from the responsibilities of motherhood. She has carved out a space for herself that is entirely her own, filled with meaningful work, devoted parenting, and a quiet sense of hope for whatever comes next. She doesn’t know if or when she will be ready to date again, and she isn’t interested in forcing the timeline. For now, she is content to let life unfold as it will, to laugh at the men who appear in her text messages, to celebrate her son’s every milestone, and to order a margarita made just the way she likes it. There is a freedom in that, and she knows it. More than a year after her divorce, Nikki Garcia is not waiting for the next chapter to begin. She is living it, on her own terms, with a glass in her hand and her heart exactly where she wants it to be.
