A big step for both Bella twins.
On tonight’s all-new Total Bellas, viewers got a front-row seat as Artem Chigvintsev proposed to Nikki Bella. As E! readers surely know, back in January, Nikki and Artem confirmed that they had gotten engaged during their November 2019 trip to France.
While the twosome teased the romantic moment on social media, Total Bellas cameras captured the sweet declaration of love—and how it all came to be thanks to Brie.
With the help of Daniel Bryan‘s wife and Nikki’s mom Kathy Colace, Artem was able to turn a special birthday dinner at a chateau into a lavish proposal. Specifically, hours before the former Dancing With the Stars pro got down on one knee, he asked Brie and Kathy to help rehearse and stage the proposal.
“I don’t think I’ve ever kept a secret this big from Nicole,” Brie noted in a confessional. “This has to be the biggest secret ever, but my sister and I tell each other everything. So, this is really hard on me.”
As Artem’s family and Nikki’s family settled down for dinner at the chateau, Artem led Nikki to a distant room filled with candles, flowers and a string quartet. Thinking the surprise ambiance was just for her name day, Nikki declared, “This is the best birthday ever!”
After the two enjoyed the string quartet with a little dancing, the music stopped so that Artem could make his speech.
“Oh, do I get a special toast?” an unaware Nikki inquired. “What is it?”
As Artem took a moment to just look at Nikki, his fiancée-to-be called him out for turning red.
“I feel like when we met it was definitely fate,” Artem started off. “And the thing is, when I fell in love with you, it was completely out of my control.”
As he continued, Artem shared the following saying: “Love is a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”
“You turned my world upside down, but in the most incredible way,” Artem confessed. “And I love you so, so much.”
“I love you too so much,” Nikki responded.
In a confessional, the Russian-born star revealed that he thought about this speech “for a long time.” Meanwhile, Artem and Nikki’s families crept towards the room to eaves drop on the proposal.
“I want to spend every sunrise and every sunset with you,” Artem stated before pulling out the ring and getting down on one knee. “What I’m trying to say is, will you marry me?”
A shocked Nikki said, “Artem! No!” A remark brother J.J. Garcia heard outside the room.
Realizing that Artem was serious, Nikki gave her real answer, “Yes!”
“Oh my goodness! Are you serious right now?” a stunned Nikki asked while jumping into her fiancé’s arms.
Following Nikki’s praise of the “pretty” ring, the eagerly awaiting families joined in on the celebrating. Not only was Nikki’s family over-the-moon for the engaged duo, but Artem’s mom Anna, dad Vladimir and brother Anton were thrilled that the Broadway veteran now had American family watching out for him.
Also, Artem’s dad Vladimir made a baby joke by saying he’s looking forward to “expanding the family.”
Ironically, as Nikki took this big step in her relationship, Brie began to suspect that she was pregnant with her second baby. At first, Brie downplayed her symptoms as jet lag, but as they continued well past her return to Phoenix, she decided it was time to take a pregnancy test.
“I just feel really tired, nauseous,” Brie told her husband (born Bryan Danielson).
Later on, the Belle Radici co-founder revealed that she and Bryan “are in a better place” and are ready “for a baby to come into our lives.”
“Bryan!” a shocked Brie declared from the bathroom.
“What?” the WWE superstar responded. “You’re pregnant? Or you’re lying to me?”
With a giggle of glee, Brie showed Bryan the positive pregnancy test. “I’m pregnant and I just can’t believe it,” Brie told the Total Bellas camera. “What’s really special about this baby is, I feel like the baby came when Bryan and I let go of so much. It kind of just is a symbol of how far Bryan and I have come and just where we’re at now, which I love.”
During a visit with Brie, Nikki told her twin that she “could not stop visualizing taking a pregnancy test.” According to Brie, their twin connection caused Nikki’s baby fever. “Usually, when one’s going through something the other one feels it,” the soon-to-be mother of two declared.
Still, Nikki’s pregnancy test vision left her rattled.
“It’s so crazy you’re on baby number two and I’m on zero,” Nikki remarked after learning Brie’s pregnancy news. “It was weird, I just kept getting this feeling, visualizing babies.”
Was it because she was sensing Brie’s pregnancy or her own? For this revelation, be sure to check out next week’s season 5 finale.