Dancing On Ice couples: Celebrities who found love on the ice

Having been thrown together for long hours of training and working through intimate routines, it’s no surprise that some Dancing On Ice pairs become more than just skating partners.

It might not quite have the hit rate of Strictly Come Dancing when it comes to matching couples (or perhaps the show just keeps its secrets a little better), but there have been some high-profile love stories from the ice.

As this year's 15th series of Dancing On Ice gets under way, read on to find out who hooked up and broke up thanks to the long-running ITV skating competition.

Vanessa Bauer and Wes Nelson

When Wes Nelson first set foot on the rink in 2019, he was still coupled up with his Love Island co-star Megan Barton-Hanson, but things quickly turned sour as the intimate skating routines began.

Pro skater Vanessa Bauer also split with her boyfriend around the same time, and Wes and Megan's row was said to have erupted over jealousy at the amount of time he was spending in training.

Although no relationship was ever confirmed by either Wes or Vanessa, fans of Dancing On Ice were sure they'd seen the couple kiss during one routine as the camera panned around to the backs of their heads.

The rumours certainly didn't hurt their chances in the competition, as they were runners-up to James Jordan and Alexandra Schauman.

Brianne Delcourt and Danny Young

Canadian skater Brianne Delcourt (above front right) has had her fair share of relationships from the show, but her more high-profile dating debacles have overshadowed the first time she coupled up with a celebrity.

Her first year on Dancing On Ice saw her get together with colleague Frankie Poultney’s skating partner Danny Young (above back left).

The Coronation Street actor even moved in with Brianne, but their romance fizzled out after the live tour ended. However, the couple did briefly reunite around eight months later, after her next Dancing On Ice fling…

Brianne Delcourt and Sam Attwater

Usually, couples who get together during a TV contest try their best to keep the story out of the limelight, but what happened between Brianne and Sam remains a bit of a mystery.

The EastEnders actor was Brianne’s second Dancing On Ice celebrity partner and they wasted no time in publicly announcing that they had fallen in love.

But scenes showing Brianne and Sam enjoying a Valentines date together during training had to be axed when they were accused of conducting a showmance to get attention, with pictures emerging that seemed to show Sam kissing another of the programme’s skaters - who was married to a fellow show pro - as Brianne looked on.

He insisted that the photos had just captured a few seconds of joking around and that the kiss had never happened, but did admit that he and Brianne had decided to call an abrupt end to their relationship so as not to distract viewers from their skating.

Brianne and Sam eventually won the series, but fans were left wondering how many of their photos in bed together, declarations of love, and couples’ magazine shoots had been real.

Brianne Delcourt and Matt Lapinskas

Showing her taste was pretty much exclusively skating soap stars, Brianne also got into a relationship with Matt, the EastEnders actor who she was partnered with for series eight.

It was a controversial coupling as Matt was already in a relationship with his Albert Square co-star Shona McGarty, so he and Brianne batted aside any rumours that they were an item.

After the show finished, they announced that they had got together but stuck to the story that it hadn’t been until Matt became single.

The pair moved in together, but when Matt was spotted with a new theatre co-star, a heartbroken Brianne dished the dirt on what their real history had been.

She told The Sun: "He pursued me behind Shona’s back. Lots of people warned me but I didn’t listen.

"I’ve stood by and lied for him about when we got together as I loved him and didn’t want to hurt Shona."

Brianne Delcourt and Kevin Kilbane

Brianne finally found her prince in the form of ex-footballer Kevin, who she partnered in the 2020 series of the show.

The couple announced their engagement in February 2020 - just four months after they first met - and got married in lockdown. They welcomed their first child, Olivia Mai, in February 2021.

Sylvain Longchambon and Jennifer Metcalfe

Another pro skater who’s caused some controversy after falling for soap star contestants is Sylvain Longchambon.

He and Hollyoaks star Jennifer were together for around two years after being matched on the show, but things turned sour when Sylvain got a new celebrity partner from soapland.

Jennifer later told The Sun on Sunday that she had been dumped on Christmas Day by the Frenchman, saying: “It's like death. I felt gutted. It was the worst Christmas ever.”

While Jennifer is now a proud mum to baby Daye with her partner, ex-Geordie Shore star Greg Lake, Sylvain’s public betrayal rumbled on through the series ahead…

Sylvain Longchambon and Samia Ghadie

Coronation Street’s Samia and Sylvain’s relationship is one of the most successful to come out of a reality show, as they’re now married and have a child together.

But the hurt ran deep in the Hollyoaks cast after his treatment of ex Jennifer Metcalfe in the run-up to becoming a couple with Samia.

In the 2014 All Stars series, it somehow seemed a good idea to pair Sylvain with Jennifer’s Hollyoaks co-star and good mate Jorgie Porter, who couldn’t resist a dig at him.

A training video showed her saying of her partner “Does that mean I’m going to be his girlfriend?” and “If he doesn’t try it on with me, I’ll be really angry”.

It prompted Samia to tweet: “Jorgie needn’t worry, Sylvain doesn’t go for burgers”, which kicked off a row between cast members of both soaps as well as former contestant Kerry Katona.

Sylvain and Samia got engaged in May 2015, had son Yves in September of the same year and married in August 2016.

Frankie Poultney and David Seaman

Ex-England goalkeeper David Seaman and establish Dancing On Ice professional Frankie Poultney were never actually skating partners, but met when they did the live tour together in 2008.

Both had recently left their marriages and David’s dreadful skating skills – which included dropping a partner on her face – did nothing to put Frankie off.

In 2015, the couple married in a ceremony full of Dancing on Ice colleagues that included Jayne Torvill, Matt Evers, Vicky Ogden and Suzanne Shaw.

They later teamed up - incognito - on the 2022 series of The Masked Dancer. Unfortunately after two dances as Pillar and Post, an ankle injury suffered by Frankie during rehearsals forced them to withdraw from the show.

Dancing On Ice returns to ITV at 6.30pm on Sunday 15 January 2023.