Fern Britton Claims Artem Chigvinstev Kicked And Shoved Her While Training For Strictly Come Dancing
A former Strictly Come Dancing parter to Artem Chigvinstev, Fern Britton, claims he kicked and shoved her while teaching her how to dance. Below is more from The Mirror…
Fern Britton has claimed her former Strictly Come Dancing partner Artem Chigvintsev used to “KICK” and “shove” her.
The former This Morning presenter has blasted the 32-year-old hunk, who quit the BBC One show last year, insisting he also told her to “shut your face” and once told her he would “kill” her.
Speaking at an event hosted by The Times newspaper, she said: “He would look at my feet and just kick me or shove me.
I don’t know what to think, but, I’d take it with a huge grain of salt. Artem seemed so classy with Patti Labelle last season. I can’t imagine him doing something like this? Maybe some of our Strictly Come Dancing fans can shed some light on this? To read the full article, see The Mirror.
Thanks to Lori and @DWTSgossip for this news.
ETA: Artem has responded to Fern’s claims. From The Independent….
The 32-year-old, who now appears on Dancing With The Stars in the US, said: “Recent statements apparently made by Fern Britton, whilst not reflecting any situation I recognize, are difficult to ignore.
“I believe I treated Fern with respect and genuine care, and these claims about me are the opposite of everything I believe in and the person I am.
“I cannot imagine what has prompted such statements which come as a shock to me. I just want to thank all my fans and friends for their support and belief in me.”
I’m not surprised considering how he behaved with Lea.I’d be scared staying in front of him.
The Mirror and Daily Fail where it was reported are always full of BS. Definitely take it with a pinch of salt!
Also, I met her while she was on the show and she certainly seemed to be enjoying herself!!
Someone can be abusive once, or selectively, or with everyone – so his relationship with Patti bears no weight in how he was with any of his other partners.
While I’m absolutely no fan of Artem at all – he gives me the ickies – I would give him some benefit of the doubt if this doesn’t seem at all a pattern (but again it could have been a one-person problem) and the fact that he got PROMOTED to DWTS and given a legend like Patti makes me wonder how credible this is. But I don’t know the star accusing him or anything, either.
Are the cameras rolling the entire practice time for SCD like they are for DWTS? Just makes me wonder at the show’s liability if this is true.
From a UK perspective…Artem definitely struggled with Fern in her season. After two strong partners it was clear that he was disappointed about getting an older partner and also, the packages showed that he could have an intense personality when training but that was only in the way he trained…just seemed a part of his nature. However he was always seen as being pretty sweet with her when she got emotional or stressed and was never shown as being harmful or too rude to her, but maybe there was a lot of editing involved. Fern is quite a polarising media figure here though and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some fabrication to this, because she’s faced similar backlash for things before.
I have kept up with scd and from what I have seen on YouTube, artem has been good with his partners in rehearsal (again from what they’ve showed before dances and whatnot) but I haven’t seen him act like a jerk since he was putting all the pressure on Lea. From what I remember about fern’s run on scd, she looked like she was having fun so I’m not sure where this is really coming from. I’m going to guess that this is fern trying to make a headline.
Can someone remind me what he did to Lea? I don’t remember.
TPTB don’t care, Fig. Look how Maks was with a few of his partners – ON Camera!! They are looking hard to fill Derek and (yes) Maks’ shoes and if it means they get a mini-Maks, so be it. All the better for the faux drama.
Is anyone here watching UNreal on Lifetime. WATCH IT. Several former Bachelor contestants said it’s not too far off the mark. I would bet that DWTS is slowly going in this direction. Or quickly. Who knows?
K Ryan, I don’t remember anything specific other than his “we have to beat Alfonso” spiel. It seemed to knock Lea’s confidence, and Artem did nothing to try and help build her confidence up.
I saw the commerical for unreal when I was watching some movie on that channel (can’t remember the name but basically a person realized her friend was dead becuase of her social media page) but definately plan to give it a look.
But that “kicking and shoving” never stopped Fern from groping him at every chance she got during the main show and the 3 months they spent together on tour? At first it made no sense why she’d come out with this 3 years down the line. Then I saw she’s just released a book and needs to find any way to keep her face in the news. No wonder hardly anyone likes her in the UK.
I did watch Unreal and was shocked at the manipulation on the Bachelor. That is definitely what this show is about though they do not say that. The lady who either produces or writes this show is from the Bachelor. After this season of DWTS, I think this is already happening on this show as well. The worst season of DWTS that I have seen.
I gotta agree with m8. My friends in England/United Kingdom literally sent me this: “fern really must be desperate and she wasn’t that famous to begin with.” Personally I didn’t know who she was before she was on the show but I love in the U.S. She seems like she is trying to pull a hope solo but with one minor difference in that hope was actaully well known.
Who knows what went on with Artem in SCD and Fern, if her accusations are not on camera and publicized. I do think Artem failed to give Leo the best training and didn’t do anything to build up her confidence. She had potential. I would have loved to see what Derek could do with Lea. However, Patti Labelle, was a living icon Singer/Entertainer and it would be to Artem’s advantage to treat her with kit gloves and put everything possible into her journey. Now that we saw this side of him, I will be expecting him to treat his future celeb partners the same way.
This isn’t the first time there have been accusations like this about British pros. I don’t know what to think. While I give no credibility to either of these disgusting papers, I must admit it’s possible. Artem did majorly crash and burn with her after two excellent partners, and they started fairly well but fell away. Fern Britton actually is quite a big name. I haven’t a clue if she currently has or needs a job, but she was one of the bigger names on it that year. But I was thinking about it, and Fern and Patti are quite similar as far as the show and teaching them to dance goes, and Artem did much better by Patti than by Fern. Maybe he’s learned his lesson?
I must be one of the few who’s not as fond of him as many people, his persona on Strictly has always translated as “I’m so above these people” to me. And he always seemed to be out of place in Strictly tbh, like he couldn’t ever blend together with the other male pros. I disagree with him getting two excellent partners before Fern though, suuure Kara is a freaking goddess, but Holly’s just not on her level. She randomly nailed that Paso to the coffin, and the American Smooth (which has the same theme with Val’s contemporary with Rumer) was beautiful, but that’s it. Holly was enjoyable to watch though (Team Lazy Rich Bitch 4 Life!), and I really like him when he’s with Natalie.
And now about Fern… I don’t know. I’d say it’s possible, but all I remember about Fern is that she always looked thirsty for Artem. But then again, he NEVER looked happy partnered with her (who would tbh). That’s from what I could remember, series 10 was filled with many interesting couples and Fern and Artem just isn’t one of those.
Heidi #7. I haven’t watch UNreal but I watched the bachelor/ette many seasons ago. I know that Jason Mesnick and his wife Molly now has been very open to all the producers manipulations behind the camera. For instance, producer told Molly to disrupt Jason when he was talking alone with another woman if Molly wanted a rose from Jason. The Mesnick have a podcast and they talk about the manipulations on many occasions. And with the recent DWTS the manipulation is so blatant it’s hard to ignore.
I see Artem’s released a statement denying Fern’s comments, which means it’s his word against hers. Looking at it neutrally, with Fern’s notorious history of lying to the press (gastric band gate etc) and release of her book, I know which one I believe.
Daniel, slightly off topic, but I’m glad you noticed that Holly was actually a bad dancer. She looked great but was lazy and a very overrated dancer. Artem covered her faults so well that people thought she was much better than she was, like Derek did when he had Joanna Krupa. I’d actually go as far as to say that was his best season as a pro. Some of his best choreo on SCD was that season.
Well I loved Holly. Maybe not the best dancer but great to watch and very entertaining. I don’t think her Paso and AS were her only good dances, her Argentine Tango was probably the best of the season and her Tango was an appropriate tribute to Chicago, which I love.
Weighing in late, as usual 🙂 Been a busy week at work!
I don’t watch SCD (just not enough time), so I can’t really speak about how Fern & Artem seemed to be or whether or not I think this is true. But I can’t help but be reminded of Hope’s similar claims that Maks physically abused her back in season 13 – claims that conveniently didn’t get made until about 2 years AFTER her season, and concurrent with the release of her book; and FWIW, the two of them had remained pretty friendly to one another during the time between the end of her season and the release of her book. I actually felt a tad bad for Maks, because he really seemed blindsided by the whole thing. Like this situation with Fern & Artem, where it’s her word against his, we may never know the full story – but it seems like Fern’s behavior and the delay in coming forward about this alleged abuse seems to indicate some sort of alterior motive…just like Hope.
As for Artem – I’ve never been a fan of Konstantine the Frog (my nickname for him), and I generally find him to be smarmy & arrogant. But unlike Maks, who seems more hot-blooded and prone to outbursts of emotion, I’ve always thought of Artem as too aloof & self-absorbed to be the type to react with violence. I could be totally off-base, but if he were to get upset with a partner, I could see him more as the type to roll his eyes and walk out, rather than the type to lash out and strike a partner.
I think I’m between the two of you, Mate and A. While I do agree that Holly was lazy and didn’t dance that well, she was indeed very entertaining to watch. I don’t recall anyone else who was straight up LAUGHING when they were announced being in the bottom two. Her dancing was fine, while she didn’t really butcher any dances, she didn’t do spectacularly either aside from that Paso. And series 9 had some of the most uninspiring group of people as top 5 ever for me, aside than Chelsee, everyone else was either bland (Harry), couldn’t dance that well (Holly), both (Alex), or Jason Donovan. I enjoy Artem more with Holly than with Kara though, I like how at first he tried to choreograph seriously but nearing the end he was like ‘oh screw it, I’ll have fun instead’. And good point A on the AT; another reason S9 wasn’t one of my favourites is that all the ATs are bland. The best one is probably Harry’s for me, would be Holly’s if only she wasn’t spun too much like a wedding cake on display, and LOLWUT @ Jason’s hair-sniffing, maniac-eyeing, random-kicking, serial killer realness AT getting a perfect score.
And now after seeing Artem’s response, I’m siding more towards him than her. Sure as a pro he could be frustrated at times but I don’t believe he kicked and shoved her, as much as he looked so unhappy being partnered with her.
I’ve never been on the Artem bandwagon, however, these British rags have zero credibility with me, and it sounds like Fern’s just grasping at straws looking for some free publicity.
I agree with Court that Artem doesn’t appear to be the hot-headed type who would lash out at his partner in anger. It seems to me there’s an “old school” Eastern European teaching style that involves somewhat rough physical correction. If the student doesn’t do what you want, physically put them into the right position or give their foot a shove with your foot. Maks and Val (neanderthals/chauvinists of the dance world) use it, and I think Artem tends to fall into that same category. They don’t seem to understand that this is not an appropriate way to teach anymore, especially in the context of an entertainment program like DWTS or Strictly. That said, Artem managed to change his style with Patti. Maybe it was pure self-preservation, but at least he was smart enough to know his a$$ would be grass if he got heavy-handed with a legend like Patti LaBelle. On the other hand, maybe he genuinely respected her for her age and accomplishments and treated her accordingly.
I do believe Fern. Having been an avid Strictly viewer for years, Artem, obviously a fantastic dancer, but just lacked the personality of the other male pros, like Anton, Pasha, Alijaz etc. His face when he was paired with Fern was a picture, just disinterest from the very beginning, and doing a maks/val special, the removing of the shirt to distract from dancing or lack thereof. Strictly is a better show now with the brilliant pros we have & the new ones coming in, Gleb etc.
Also, I don’t know if it’s the case on DWTS, but on the strictly pro dances, he would just have this manic smile plastered on his face for the entire routine.
And I agree with Courtney, smarmy & arrogant are perfect words to describe him.
Court, I was going to say the same thing about Hope & Maks – I know a lot of people turned off from Maks that season, but I honestly thought it was just a very toxic relationship and heavily-so on her end. Of course I may be biased because I could never stand her – she’s my #1 least-favorite DWTS contestant ever, and that’s from before the show all the way through her publicity stunts that she’s still doing now.
Also, when reading the actual article, it seems less like anything overt violence and simply it being a rough teaching/compensating approach. Again, I can’t stand Artem (like Court I find him to be the ultimate smarm-ball) but this whole thing just doesn’t seem likely.
@Fig – Hope & Maks got along about as well as a rat and a boa constrictor from day 1 – and I agree, more often than not it was Hope who was funneling the venom into that partnership, and Maks was just reacting to it (one of his biggest flaws – just a very reactive personality). I remember Deep Throat saying that the editors really struggled putting together packages for Hope & Maks that were warm & fuzzy, because they had very, very few warm & fuzzy moments – it was either constant bickering, full-on shouting matches, or the two of them glaring at each other in silence.
I didn’t really believe Hope’s claims in her book back then (not only was the timing odd, but we also had an inside source at the show that season that could not back up any of Hope’s claims, other than the rough handling during team dance practice – and the couples are SELDOM alone during rehearsals), and I’m dubious about Fern’s claims now. It seems like Fern may be misinterpreting “forceful handling” as “violence”, in this case – but again, it kinda begs the question: why wait until NOW to come out with this? Seems like an exaggeration with very convenient timing.
That’s very interesting, because I didn’t remember that the inside source wasn’t able to verify Hope’s claims; and I definitely agree with all of your other assessments of Maks and Hope. That was just a disaster.
Whenever someone has a book deal I pretty much brace myself that something odd or “juicy” is going to be spilled – I remember Cheryl’s book confirmed that she hooked up with Chad.
Shawn wrote about her DWTS experiences (from S8) too in one of her memoirs. I haven’t read it so I’m just going by on what’s been said online. Nothing too juicy from what I can remember – just that the prom thing in one of their video packages was set up by the producers. I remember thinking that whole bit was so cheesy but now that I know it was the producers’ idea, it all makes sense to me.
I remember Mark was also pretty rough with Candace in S18. During one of their rehearsals he kept shoving her in place, eventually reducing her to tears. What shocked me was Mark’s reaction to Candace – he said something like, “stop being so dramatic.” Maybe Mark, Artem, and some of the other pros who use this type of teaching style don’t think it’s inappropriate?
By the way, I don’t think Mark is always like this as a pro/instructor. I hope it was just a one-time thing and that it came about because he was frustrated and was under a lot of pressure. I hope he apologized to Candace – maybe he did but it just wasn’t shown on air.
Oh that prom thing was so obviously producer-driven, as are most of those packages where there’s any kind of set-up or taking time away from the studio. I was actually thinking just the other day that there’s not nearly as many of those “trips” made by the couples anymore – I recall the one with Kym and Robert this season where they “asked America” if they should kiss. I’m sure there’s a few every season, but before I felt like every couple had a chance to do that; regardless of whether or not they were natural or staged.
@Fig – The only thing that Deep Throat could confirm was the shove that happened during the paso doble team dance rehearsal – and we all saw that on TV. DT never witnessed the alleged “slap” that Hope referred to, nor were there any clandestine meetings with producers whereby Hope was coerced into staying quiet about it (the crew at DWTS, like Tom mentioned, leaks gossip like a sieve – and this would have gotten around, had it actually been true). Their rehearsals were definitely no honeymoon – but there wasn’t any physical violence in them.
I actually looked up the original opinion post we did about Hope’s claims of abuse at Maks’ hands – it’s interesting to read it and then read Fern’s claims, because it seems very, very similar: https://www.puredwts.com/2012/08/17/hope-solo-on-maks-and-dwts-opinion/
I just looked at that link, and what I said in that old thread still stands. I never thought Maks was a saint, but I do think Hope is a poisonous, manipulative person and it doesn’t surprise me that she tried to sell her book with possible slander.
I can’t speak for Fern, since I don’t know anything about her, but it definitely seems to be about interpreting things in the worst possible way in order to sensationalize and sell books.
I wish I wasn’t defending Artem, I really do.
In Fern’s defence I don’t think she meant that she was treated in a violent way, otherwise she wouldn’t have all of a sudden started mentioning it 3 years later. However she’s a very savvy woman who knows how the tabloids operate. She will have known that using words such as kick and shove would be seized upon and sensationalised by our gutter tabloids like the mirror & daily mail. Maybe she thought Artem had gone back to Russia and wouldn’t find out about this? Little did she know he actually does the same job & same show just in a different country. Then again, Artem responding benefits Fern as she’s now had name in the news for 2 days rather than 1.