Addressing her divorce publicly for the first time, WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Garcia said that she needed time away from everything to protect her son and heal following months-long issues with her now ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev.

Garcia was speaking on The Nikki & Brie Show podcast, returning to the show for the latest episode after several weeks out.

“It’s been really tough. I’ve been heartbroken…sad,” Nikki told her sister. “You know, you dream of having this family and you have this incredible love and it just goes the other way. And you go from having a great love story to having a terrible one.”

Nikki admitted that it has been a big struggle for her as she never imagined she would have that ending although she played up things a lot better than what they were in public, something which she now regrets doing.

She said that her son deserves the greatest dad ever and she will not be dragging her ex-husband in the mud because that’s not what Matteo needs or deserves.

“You fight for your kids, you want to stick together because that’s what the kids want. And I tried really hard,” Nikki said.

She added that she’s been finding it tough without her son now that they have shared custody of him and she’s never been at home without him before.

“Really, really hard…very emotional. Even yesterday. I cry every time he leaves.”

You can listen to it at https://open.spotify.com/episode/7LVkgLSJCkH0olnmfIt4zX.