When I saw this article yesterday that announced Jamie Sale and David Pelletier’s plans to divorce, my mind went many directions of sad. To the first time I saw them tell Erich Segal’s story of love… to those bewildering Olympic days of 2002… to news of the wedding… to their son Jesse… to the great insight and fun they offer whenever I’ve seen them do commentary…
But when it came to their commentary duties, what stuck with me most was this… here’s what I wrote in my post from February 16 during the Olympics when talking about Mukhortova/Trankov’s interpretation of Love Story:…
Then there’s that shot NBC took of Sale/Pelletier up in the broadcast booth, watching in dead silence as a “response” to their music being revived. Nice. Spooky. Wow. (But now I’m thinking it was probably just that the CBC was taking a commercial break at the time… yeah, that was it)
And suddenly it all makes sense. How strange that whole gig must’ve been for them, and then to be sitting there in that moment… (big sigh)
They say they will continue to skate professionally, and really, what choice do they have if they want to keep earning a living this way? Together, they’re as much of a franchise as any pairs team in recent memory—and maybe ever, in light of all the press received by the judging scandal. And as I recall, neither of them fared that well in viewers’ votes when they skated with other partners in that Thin Ice program that aired in March.
People want to see them together… or at least they have up to now. Does anyone out there remember when Sonny and Cher tried to continue their very popular TV variety show after they’d divorced? It didn’t go so well… the way they related on camera carried a new sort of sting; the mild digs in the name of humor were almost painful to watch. (OK, for the record, I was all of about 6 or 7 when the show ended and I barely remember it myself, but still…)
A skating couple is different of course… they don’t have to speak when they perform, at least not verbally. But will they be able to skate to anything uplifting from here on with fans truly believing what they “say”? Total professionals, yes they are. But above all else, they’re human too.
If anyone’s watched Sale/Pelletier perform together in the past year or so, would you be so kind as to post a comment about your thoughts on the performance?
For the Clip of the Day I found—from presumably happier times—their 2003 exhibition performance of Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me.
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8 comments:
I saw them at Stars on Ice in May. It was painful to watch because I knew what was going on, but my friends who didn't know, saw no difference. They were fabulous to watch. I think they put all their anger and stress into their skating,they were so good, but they could barely look at each other it was so obvious.
Their marriage had a very sudden and quick demise, apparently. What happened was that David was unfaithful. There are various stories about who, but it happened after the baby was born or a year later. Whoever it was, early in 2009, things changed and there were some show cancellations and also commentating for NBC which they had said they were going to do back in Dec 2008.
They seemed to be working things out in the summer and the autumn of 2009, until early in 2010. A couple of things are well known in the skating community. First of all, David has been involved with Tessa Virtue the 21 year old Gold medal ice dancer, since about 2009. It's not sure if he never stopped seeing her at all, but now that the split was for sure as of Feb 2010 he was seeing her again (or still) In Stars on Ice she and her partner Scott were in the show, so that must have been real cosy for the skaters, with Jamie and David skating together, and Tessa involved with David.
However, the other fly in the ointment is that Jamie is involved with Craig Simpson, her partner in Battle of the Blades last October. He and his wife are split and they have 3 children. Some people say the 2 of them had an affair back during Battle of the Blades, but whatever, the sale/pelletier marriage didn't really hit the rocks until the Olympics (ironic) It might be that it was on the mend and when Jamie saw that she could get Craig Simpson, she dumped the marriage for good. I only say this because David looked pretty sad for someone who caused the whole thing in the first place.
The big rumor is that Jamie is pregnant,but who knows. Not David's kid obviously. They both gave up pretty easily on their marriage. So much for the great love story. I still think that they both went through a serious life crisis/shift and when the dust settles they will be sorry they gave up on their marriage. So far things are very quiet about David/Tessa and Jamie/Craig, but when it comes out, they won't have a lot of respect left. No, I don't think the skating thing will work for them. I will never go to see them again.
everyone in skate canada knows what i will say: the affair started long before it was acknowledged. it was hushed up so tessa could maintain her princess image through the olympics. it's worked: i have seen innumerable cruel comments about jamie as if she drove the father of her baby into poor innocent tessa's arms. the hypocrisy is revolting.
Well, the whole Scott loves Tessa romance-on-ice thing was always rather hard to take, too over the top for me. If this is true, they're not only 2 of the best skaters, they're the best actors around.
I saw them skate back in December of 2009, after it was known to everyone and any one involved with figure skating in Canada that their marriage was over, and it was extremely awkward to watch. The anger and tension in both of their skating was intense, when ever either reach to the other they shyed away because they wanted nothing to do with each other.
On another note this was a longtime coming. When the two of them first skated getting romantically involved David was married to another women. Knowing this its not a big surprise, he's a man that cannot control his primal urges to always search for the younger more fertile women.
That said they have obviously done a lot of work off the ice to rid there skating of the awkward tension. Seeing them skate this past December they were both much more relaxed and 'preforming' like the Sale and Pelletier we all like to remeber.
Just came home from watching Stars On Ice. I did not know anything about the divorce. However, I did notice that Pelletier did not look into Sale's eyes during the entire performance. Yet, when he danced briefly with another partner, he would smile and engage. I knew something must be wrong so I did a search tonight when I got home. Sad to hear.
I saw Stars on Ice on May 8, 2011 in Calgary and I was curious to see how Jamie and David would skate together as I've adored them from the start. At times they looked alright, other times, there was no eye contact and a few flubs were even made. I wondered it Jamie later gave David any heck for it because it looked like he was the one who fumbled. No matter what's going on in their personal lives, they all gave us a great show, and in the end, everybody just wants to be happy. How we go about getting happiness is the biggest controversy, but in the meantime, let's enjoy the beauty and artistry of figure skating.
I only discovered this magical pair while googling vivo per lei with Andre Bocelli and Hayley Westenra and fell instantly under their spell. Last year I travelled from Ireland to Chicago to see them skate in March. I knew nothing of their divorce until today! Hopefully, they will continue to bring the delight and joy they have always done and if not let's just be thankful for all they have given. Respect them for the superb artists they are, their private lives are their own. I don't think they ever set themselves up as superhumans and we all make mistakes.
Thank you Jamie and David for all the magic.
All simple, Jamie wanted Craig, broke up their marriage, as per usual spoiled little brat got what she wanted, now its 2018, and maybe Craig is missing his beautiful Christine, saw them together at a hockey game where their son was playing, still a lot of love there .....
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