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Nikki Garcia reveals why she is all for the “slow dating” trend
“I’m not gonna anymore accept the bare minimum from you in this relationship, I’m actually going to slowly date you to see the expectations I do want,” the television personality said
Nikki split from ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev nearly a year ago
Nikki Garcia is embracing a new trend in dating.
On the latest episode of The Nikki & Brie Show, the WWE star, 41, revealed that she is ready to try out “slow dating,” or singles “taking the time to get to know each other and build a connection before deciding if they want to pursue the relationship or meet in person,” according to Bumble.
“We are coming into the era of slow dating, which means, according to apps, if I was to start talking to someone right now, I will still be in that talking stage by Christmas,” she explained.
“Slow dating’s in, which I’m like, ‘Wait, Wait, this might be a good era for me to be single in,’” she added.
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Nikki admitted that the trend is a perfect fit for what she is looking for, nearly a year after her split from ex-husband Artem Chigvintsev.
“This is what I like,” she admitted. “You’re not gonna push me to commit or have sex or whatever else that we could just start to chat and work our way into, is this worth it? Do we move forward?”
“I love that this is now becoming a thing for people and that green flags are finally trending,” she added of the current dating scene. “Like, people, instead of always talking about the red flags or this or, like, I still went into it, people are more like no. Let’s talk about the green and how sexy that is.”
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
Artem Chigvintsev (L) and Nikki Bella attend FOX’s Teen Choice Awards 2019 on August 11, 2019 in Hermosa Beach, California.
Nikki’s sister and co-host Brie Garcia told the Dancing with the Stars alum that she was focused on her now husband Bryan Danielson’s green flags when they started dating.
“How I became Brian’s girlfriend is that I looked at all the green flags…It was hard for me to commit to Brian in the beginning, to fully commit,” she recalled of her husband, whom she married in April 2014. “I mean, he literally had to break up with me for me to realize all the green flags, and I was like, I can’t lose this guy.”
“It was literally because of all the great things he is, like all the pros,” she added.
Nikki said she is holding potential partners to a higher standard as she tips her toe back into dating.
Arturo Holmes/WireImage
Nikki Garcia attends Netflix’s “Happy Gilmore 2” New York Premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on July 21, 2025 in New York City.
“I’m not gonna anymore accept the bare minimum from you in this relationship, I’m actually going to slowly date you to see the expectations I do want,” she shared. “Are you going to open up my doors? Are you going to be open and vulnerable with me? Are you going to communicate?”
“I think it’s beautiful, and I think this is how it should be. It’s almost like how courting was way back,” she added.
Her sister teased, “You’re gonna be courted,” before joking, “And if you need a chaperone, I’ll be the chaperone. I’ll walk five feet behind you guys, but be listening like this.”
The television personality hopes to take the idea of courting one step further, suggesting there be “gorgeous gardens — just like back in the day for courting — so then that’s where people could go.”
“So we know that this garden or park is for courting,” she continued. “And you go there knowing you’re gonna just walk and talk. Nothing else. No drinking, no eating, no people involved unless you have a chaperone 10 feet behind you, like you said. But it’s strictly for walking and talking.”
“No cell phones, no distractions. It’s courting,” she added.
Nikki told PEOPLE last month that she would “love a man who not only does business but has swag.”
“I need edge. I like a proper boy, but if he’s too proper, I’m like, ‘Hmm I can’t do it,'” she shared at the time. “So I want edge, I want swag, but I want someone who can run a boardroom, who can get in the gym.”
“I’m like Chris Hemsworth, like Troy-type of girl, or Channing Tatum,” she added.
Nikki also teased that she would be up for joining Love Is Blind, the popular Netflix reality show where single men and women date, fall in love and get engaged, all before meeting in person.
“I have to say, I feel like Love Is Blind could be really cool because to meet people, never see them and then see who I connect with — that’d be pretty cool,” she said.
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Nikki finalized her divorce from dance pro Chigvintsev, 43, in May. The pair, who married in 2022 after meeting on season 25 of DWTS in 2017, share a son, Matteo, 6.
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