Scott Moir is engaged to a figure skater — but it’s not to his decades-long skate partner and fellow Olympic gold medallist Tessa Virtue.
The news that shattered a million hearts came from Moir himself on Wednesday night. He and Virtue were in his hometown of Ilderton, Ont. to receive plaques from Canada’s Walk of Fame. (They were inducted last year.)
The reference to Moir’s upcoming marriage came during his speech, when he thanked his aunt Carol, his former skating coach. “She’s pretty good at picking partners, I will say that,” he said, to audience laughter. The partnership with Tessa “seemed to last a little bit longer,” added.
“And the first one that she gave me is now my fiancée, so that works alright.”
An eagle-eyed Twitter user caught the reference from part of a broadcast of the ceremony. In the clip, Virtue appears to clap supportively when he mentions the engagement.
His fiancée and former skating partner is Jackie Mascarin. He hasn’t spoken publicly about their relationship until now, although he has mentioned that he had another partner before Virtue.
HuffPost Canada has reached out to Moir’s management for comment, and will update this story if we hear back.
While he hasn’t weighed in on the public announcement yet, Virtue playfully tweeted that she’s looking for a wedding date.
In their book Tessa and Scott: Our Journey from Childhood Dream to Gold, Kate Virtue, Tessa’s mother, remembers noticing Scott on the ice before her daughter did. “He was dancing with another little girl at the time,” she told co-author Steve Milton. “You could pick the Moir kids out by the way they skated. They were the best in the rink.
Moir was Virtue’s first partner — but she would have skated with someone else if she had had the chance, apparently.
“In Grade One I did write in my journal that I wanted to be at the Olympics with Danny Moir, Scott’s brother,” she once said in an interview, Time reported.
It’s an understatement to say that this news will disappoint a lot of Virtue/Moir shippers. The undeniable chemistry and electrifying sensuality the pair brought to their Olympic performance led to a legion of questions about the exact nature of their partnership. They’ve long denied being a couple, but that certainly hasn’t stopped the rumours.
Fandoms aren’t exactly kind when the subjects of their obsessions stray from the roles fans have cast them in. But at least the upcoming Moir/Mascarin marriage proves that skating partners do sometimes get together!
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, you’re our only hope now.