James/Radford announce partnership

[4everchan]

I keep wishing I could find that "beating a dead horse" emoticon. This topic has been dissected to death. It's unfortunate that a good team like Radford and Duhamel have ended up this way but only they know their feelings and how they're handling it individually. I've always thought that Meagan was extremely happy being a mother and working with her husband coaching pair teams. I don't know that Eric was doing anything so I can imagine the thought of having a purpose again was attractive to him. It's just too bad that their personal interactions had to be played out in the media and open to such minute inspection and diverse opinions. And the bottom line is - where are these shows that they're missing out on?????

i agree with your entire post except the last line at one point, tours will be on again and it will take a long time before a North American team gets the credentials Meagan and Eric worked 10 years to get... so even if everything is canceled now, I am pretty sure that when touring would have come back, Meagan and Eric could have skated in them for many many years...the way Isabelle and Lloyd, Barbara and Paul, and some other Canadian pairs did.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

ermm... the current context with social media being so present in our lives is definitely giving more emphasis on current splits than those that happened years ago... however, it's not because some got away with bad behaviour before social media was everywhere, that this bad behaviour didn't exist or is excusable. I will end this topic here.

Social media existed post 2014 Olympics, when Aliona was thinking about competitive prospects with Bruno, while Robin was anticipating a show career with Aliona. Bruno & Aliona began competing in the 2015-2016 season, which truthfully is not that many years ago (only about six years). The rest of what you're saying is unclear to me your point, as you seem to be reiterating in a different context what I said in the last sentence of my previous post. But okay, I see you have ended the topic, which is only relative to this thread in the sense of fans referencing the hurt feelings that so often happen with partnership splits.

The discussion about Canadian ladies is interesting but I won't continue that off-topic in this thread.

 

[4everchan]

my point was simply that social media is used very differently now than it was even just 2-3 years ago

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

In regard to Vanessa as a singles skater, I want to point out that she was a talented singles skater. She was a British national champion in singles, and also a silver medalist. Seemingly, Vanessa turned to pairs skating in order to further advance her career, and it worked out beautifully.

In reference to those who have been comparing Vanessa's singles abilities with current Canadian ladies, that's moot and pointless because Vanessa has been skating pairs for a very long time, and I haven't seen her say anything about desiring to attempt a return to the singles discipline. Just as what is required in singles is difficult, what Vanessa and other pairs ladies do on the ice is extremely difficult and not for everyone. Of course, many singles ladies have made the transition to pairs. But then the majority of skaters begin competing in singles first.

 

[4everchan]

we need an emoji showing a horse getting beaten to death. the issue with big news like this coming at the end of the season is that there is nothing else to talk about... and it remains the main news until something of similar interest comes out... when people start talking about Vanessa as a singles skater, the thread has run its course.

YMMV

 

[chasingneverland]

at one point, tours will be on again and it will take a long time before a North American team gets the credentials Meagan and Eric worked 10 years to get... so even if everything is canceled now, I am pretty sure that when touring would have come back, Meagan and Eric could have skated in them for many many years...the way Isabelle and Lloyd, Barbara and Paul, and some other Canadian pairs did.

This is true; however, they never agreed to tours (at least from what we've heard from both sides) beyond this year.

Is it hard to lose income you were hoping for? Yes. But there was no arrangement to continue touring beyond this year.

Also a lot of the old guard is retiring even from shows and pursing other interests.

 

[4everchan]

This is true; however, they never agreed to tours (at least from what we've heard from both sides) beyond this year.

Is it hard to lose income you were hoping for? Yes. But there was no arrangement to continue touring beyond this year.

Also a lot of the old guard is retiring even from shows and pursing other interests.

more to the point, they never discussed no longer doing tours i think that's exactly Meagan's point

 

[chasingneverland]

more to the point, they never discussed no longer doing tours i think that's exactly Meagan's point

Completely different. Each new tour you sign a new contract. Each contract functions independently of each other.

If you're doing contractual work, it's for that specific job.

For example, I work as a research assistant at a university. Now, each time I've had a break in studies I've gone back to the same lab/research group. (I've been there since I was a 3rd year undergraduate. I'm now finishing my masters degree including a gap year in-between where I worked full-time in the lab.) I'm continually a part of ongoing research and in many cases the only one who knows how to do a specific synthesis or characterization technique (out of 13 current members). I am a co-author on 9 published, peer-reviewed papers for that group and 3 more that are currently under revision (plus several others in various stages of being written.) In other words, a very essential member. In all times, I've discussed the possibility of continuing/renewing my contract/getting a new one when my schedule allows. In fact, my current contract ends soon. My supervisor has verbally said he would renew it but until the papers are signed, there is no contract.

While one could argue a verbal agreement is a contract, in Eric and Meagan's case there wasn't even that BEYOND this year.

Regardless, there is a difference between saying you'll plan to continue doing shows, saying you plan to not continue doing shows, and not saying anything regarding the future of shows.

Expectations aren't binding. They're just that. Expectations.

Meagan has talked about wanting things to be in contracts now, but it's questionable how much that would have changed the outcome. As of February all they discussed and agreed to were SOI and SOI Japan. Now, all contracts (or well designed ones) come with contingency plans (in case of varying circumstances), which is what this would fall under anyway. Unless, there was a time frame or a specified number of tours (and remember Eric's first plan wasn't do stop doing shows with Meagan it was to also do shows with Vanessa), then there isn't anything that would be binding there either.

 

[4everchan]

Completely different. Each new tour you sign a new contract. Each contract functions independently of each other.

If you're doing contractual work, it's for that specific job.

For example, I work as a research assistant at a university. Now, each time I've had a break in studies I've gone back to the same lab/research group. (I've been there since I was a 3rd year undergraduate. I'm now finishing my masters degree including a gap year in-between where I worked full-time in the lab.) I'm continually a part of ongoing research and in many cases the only one who knows how to do a specific synthesis or characterization technique (out of 13 current members). I am a co-author on 9 published, peer-reviewed papers for that group and 3 more that are currently under revision (plus several others in various stages of being written.) In other words, a very essential member. In all times, I've discussed the possibility of continuing/renewing my contract/getting a new one when my schedule allows. In fact, my current contract ends soon. My supervisor has verbally said he would renew it but until the papers are signed, there is no contract.

While one could argue a verbal agreement is a contract, in Eric and Meagan's case there wasn't even that BEYOND this year.

Regardless, there is a difference between saying you'll plan to continue doing shows, saying you plan to not continue doing shows, and not saying anything regarding the future of shows.

Expectations aren't binding. They're just that. Expectations.

Meagan has talked about wanting things to be in contracts now, but it's questionable how much that would have changed the outcome. As of February all they discussed and agreed to were SOI and SOI Japan. Now, all contracts (or well designed ones) come with contingency plans (in case of varying circumstances), which is what this would fall under anyway. Unless, there was a time frame or a specified number of tours (and remember Eric's first plan wasn't do stop doing shows with Meagan it was to also do shows with Vanessa), then there isn't anything that would be binding there either.

i don't need an explanation on how it works ... i do sign a contract for every single show i perform in... however, as I have explained already in this thread, when you have steady partners with whom you have worked on a show forever, it is necessary to inform them, if you no longer want to be part of that partnership. there is a show i perform in that has been around for over ten years.. right now, because of covid, and also because of other reasons, the show in on hiatus... however, if the show starts again, the partners of the original show are expected to resume their duties... IF someone wants out to do something else, the whole group is notified. Maybe expectations are not binding as you mention, however, integrity and loyalty are worth a lot in many fields. From seeing the reactions of skaters, how they call themselves a close family, then it is clear to me that even if expectations may not be binding, it is not considerate to behave the way Eric did. And just to add, only Meagan and Eric know what kind of discussion they have had about touring. And of course, there were some because Eric and Meagan were discussing SOI for the fall WHILE HE was training with Vanessa and expecting a release... and therefore, and for the last time, I believe Meagan when she says she was betrayed by her friend and business partner. You may feel differently, that's definitely up to you.

 

[chasingneverland]

i don't need an explanation on how it works ... i do sign a contract for every single show i perform in... however, as I have explained already in this thread, when you have steady partners with whom you have worked on a show forever, it is necessary to inform them, if you no longer want to be part of that partnership. there is a show i perform in that has been around for over ten years.. right now, because of covid, and also because of other reasons, the show in on hiatus... however, if the show starts again, the partners of the original show are expected to resume their duties... IF someone wants out to do something else, the whole group is notified. And just to add, only Meagan and Eric know what kind of discussion they have had about touring. And of course, there were some because Eric and Meagan were discussing SOI for the fall WHILE HE was training with Vanessa and expecting a release... and therefore, and for the last time, I believe Meagan when she says she was betrayed by her friend and business partner. You may feel differently, that's definitely up to you.

1. Eric did inform Meagan when his plans officially changed. You can argue that he informed her too late - fair - but he did.

2. That would only apply if the same show was to continue. For SOI they invite them independently each time.

3. We know what Meagan and Eric have said publically - and NEITHER have said that there was any contract - verbal or otherwise - beyond these current shows.

4. They were discussing SOI for the Spring! (Not fall - it's for the current SOI Japan that is happening right now and SOI also originally had a spring timeline.

5. Eric himself said up until February that he was planning on doing the shows (SOI and SOI Japan - Spring) with Meagan. They BOTH said that.

6. I do believe Meagan FEELS betrayed. I also thing both should have handled it differently. That's their prerogative though. That doesn't mean that CONTRACT were broken.

 

[skylark]

Getting back to J/R's purported song selection by Harry Styles, it is probably brave of skaters to tackle songs with 'falling in the lyrics and title.' However, it is also possible to disassociate the idea of falling on the ice from the concept of falling in and out of love, and into depression and contemplation about perhaps finding a way forward through adversity

If James/Radford, with Julie and Ian, have in fact chosen this selection (of which we still only have Lease's assertion?) ... whew. That, to me, would be a lot to take on in a program their very first season together. And in addition to taking the risk that skating to lyrics including 'falling' every day might not be conducive, and could have a subconscious effect. Whew.

Vanessa & Eric truly did make it clear they didn't want to divulge their music selections, but indicated, as I recall, that they had put a lot of thought into their choices and had settled on music for both programs. Because obviously they need to be working hard right now on choreography. It pays to revisit some of the direct quotes from their interview with Asher and Dylan:

Eric: "This has come totally out of the blue and out of left field. It's something that has just manifested in front of us quite easily and without us trying. I realize that I am 36. I'm going to be 37 at the Olympics... If anybody had asked me five months ago, I would have been like, 'No bleeping way. Not going to happen.' And here it is. It's happening... What's so amazing is that I can feel a familiarity, but it's a totally different flavor. And that's what's so exciting about it for me. It's like I'm returning home, but with a sense of curiosity and exploration, to a home that I'm familiar with but that I've never been to before..."

Vanessa: "We are healthy. We are blessed to be in good shape. We have nothing to lose... This is something that we can't compare with anything we've done before. It's an opportunity for us to get back into the skating world and to see what we can offer... There's room for us..."

I love those quotes.

In his Instagram announcement, Eric quotes Eleanor Roosevelt:
"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience."
Eric on the piano: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMkim4hJPDW/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLINvhRprNF/


** Regarding the whole question of what kind of team J/R might become, I think they both bring interesting qualities and possibilities to their partnership. In their time away from skating, they have both spent two seasons as contestants on BOTB. I am sure that it was fun for both of them, as well as a way to explore different ways of expressing themselves on the ice while teaching hockey players about the unique aspects of pairs skating.

I saw a bit of BOTB season 5 in 2019, and I thought both Eric and Vanessa were standouts, along with Andrew Poje, Kaitlyn Weaver, and Katia Gordeeva. Unfortunately, Vanessa and her partner were eliminated too early last season. She had another very tall and big partner for season 6, in fall 2020 (Akim Aliu), who I think improved a bit more than her partner from season 5 (Brian McGrattan, who had a similar hefty build). So in season 6, Vanessa got to the semi-finals with her wonderful partner, Akim. Sadly, because the viewing audience has a say in the outcome, Vanessa and Akim were unfairly cut from the final. It is so obvious that both Meagan and her partner, Wojtek, and Vanessa and her partner, Akim, deserved to go head-to-head in the final, as both teams were more technically advanced and well-matched. Asher Hill got the nod for the final with his partner, which was nice, but he's an ice dancer and his partner is a hockey player, so neither were much competition for Meagan and Wojtek, who had a very good vibe together. Still, I think Vanessa's partner, Akim was a bit smoother and had improved his pairs skills more-so over the course of the season than Wojtek. It's a fun show to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3dRb0C0T1I (@ 3:21 Vanessa talks about what she learned from Akim on BOTB) And they skate first in the semi-final to 'Scared to Live'

More from Vanessa & Akim. Wow! I love the full split on the ice into a throw at the end of their routine! Maybe Vanessa & Eric can adapt this boss move for eligible competition:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k0n1FjIXko (early in season 6)

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k0n1FjIXko (steady improvement by Akim)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IOnPURt6g0 island vibe -- lots of fun

Vanessa with season 5 partner, Brian (back in the days when full audiences were still en vogue/ possible):

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

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I must say, I'm loving Vanessa's costuming on BOTB -- a departure from bodysuits. She looks good in anything! She has such style and verve.

Below are some clips of Eric on BOTB season 6. I think in both seasons 5 and 6 Eric's partners were okay, but it's possibly a bit harder for female hockey players to transition seamlessly to pairs skating since in pairs as in ballet, the focus is largely on the woman, with the man showing her off. So it is harder for a good pairs guy to camouflage pairs skating weaknesses of their hockey player partners. In season 6 BOTB, Andrew Poje (as an ice dancer) with his hockey player partner, Natalie Spooner, were somewhat of an anomaly in how well they meshed. Of course in high level pairs competition, the man's role is equally important. Still the best male pairs partners can do the heavy lifting, throwing and twirling with ease and aplomb while a lot of the focus is on presenting the female.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru4D2Py97Ik Season 6 intro to Eric & his partner, Jennifer (they're pleasant to watch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZkPyp1XKqQ Very nice; I like Eric's solo jump, and Jennifer holds her own
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6h560pwGTg This was a really nice concept to 'Sparrow.' Still, at 5'8" Jennifer is rather tall, and without dynamic pairs skills in the female role, they created a watchable program by relying on a theatrical concept, with Eric making the more interesting difference --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH6vGPOtYac Season 5 Eric with Amanda Kessell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzAYQ7qt8LE Eric & Amanda

I'm posting these clips because I think we can see the growth and creative exploration from both Eric & Vanessa during their time on BOTB, as they tried to teach and perform with hockey players. So their past eligible partnerships, along with the fun and stretching of their horizons that they did on BOTB I think holds them in great stead, and is likely part of why coming together as partners themselves seemed to happen so organically, as Eric described in That Skating Show interview.

This whole post is a great resource for taking this thread into a discussion of the qualities Vanessa and Eric will bring. I especially like the idea of exploring what they gained and learned from two years of skating with two different partners on Battle of the Blades. Tangentially, I really wish someone in USA would get a project like this going. Sandra does invite US and Russian figure skaters (and others?), but it's understandably a Canadian project. It's such a wonderful opportunity for figure skaters, and it works so well. Of course, attempts in the US haven't been successful, with good reason, they were terrible (IMHO). Maybe it's Sandra's genius that is the essential ingredient.

I thought I'd watched their skates, but I need to watch them again. I don't recall thinking much about Vanessa's costumes and how they differ from her fabulous bodysuits.

 

[4everchan]

you know what, I will let this go because I do not want to reveal any more details about how my own life works but some of your numbered points, I disagree with

More importantly, there is no need to break a contract to break a friendship and a partnership... if you only think about a contract : fair enough, Eric did not legally break a contract.... good for him... but he did break his friendship with Meagan, a relationship that was built over a decade and that led to a major legacy in the sport. And by doing that, Meagan finds herself not only betrayed by the person she trusted enough to throw her in the air for quad salchows and dangerous twists, but is ipso facto unemployed. Trust doesn't need to be written down in a contract. Trust is something that is acquired over time. Realizing that someone you trusted betrays you is an awful feeling.

 

[chasingneverland]

you know what, I will let this go because I do not want to reveal any more details about how my own life works but some of your numbered points, I disagree with

More importantly, there is no need to break a contract to break a friendship and a partnership... if you only think about a contract : fair enough, Eric did not legally break a contract.... good for him... but he did break his friendship with Meagan, a relationship that was built over a decade and that led to a major legacy in the sport. And by doing that, Meagan finds herself not only betrayed by the person she trusted enough to throw her in the air for quad salchows and dangerous twists, but is ipso facto unemployed. Trust doesn't need to be written down in a contract. Trust is something that is acquired over time. Realizing that someone you trusted betrays you is an awful feeling.

Yes. I can see how Meagan feels that way. And I sympathize for that. At the minimum he should have told her earlier.

(I have also been betrayed by someone I trusted and had them go behind my back and found out from other people.)

I'm just saying a formal contract wouldn't have solved that.

It wouldn't have made Eric want to stay. Which arguably was where the betrayal really happened. He didn't want to skate with her and saw no future with her. Worse he didn't want to tell her. A contract wouldn't have changed him wanting to tell her or not. Although Meagan herself acknowledges that it could be at least partially because he didn't want to hurt her. Did he hurt her worse by not telling her? Maybe. Probably. But clearly he did care about her on some level.

 

[4everchan]

Yes. I can see how Meagan feels that way. And I sympathize for that. At the minimum he should have told her earlier.

(I have also been betrayed by someone I trusted and had them go behind my back and found out from other people.)

I'm just saying a formal contract wouldn't have solved that.

It wouldn't have made Eric want to stay. Which arguably was where the betrayal really happened. He didn't want to skate with her and saw no future with her. Worse he didn't want to tell her. A contract wouldn't have changed him wanting to tell her or not. Although Meagan herself acknowledges that it could be at least partially because he didn't want to hurt her. Did he hurt her worse by not telling her? Maybe. Probably. But clearly he did care about her on some level.

Eric wouldn't have stayed but would have been forced to talk to Meagan sooner. She clearly said that she was not holding against him the fact that he wants to compete.. Sport is sport. It's the two-timing that pissed her off... and well... I don't know many people who find that acceptable in life...

 

[chasingneverland]

Eric wouldn't have stayed but would have been forced to talk to Meagan sooner. She clearly said that she was not holding against him the fact that he wants to compete.. Sport is sport. It's the two-timing that pissed her off... and well... I don't know many people who find that acceptable in life...

Would he have?? I disagree.

Assuming no pandemic, he would have done the tour with Meagan. He wouldn't be practicing with Vanessa right now - they would be on tour. Assuming a pandemic, well nothing in his contract would state that he couldn't do what he wanted with his free time. Ergo, he could have been practicing with Vanessa. It wouldn't break his contract - as he had planned to do both.

As for being forced to tell her, I think the timing of everything would have been slower. He woudn't have practiced with Vanessa so early if they were on tour. If they weren't on tour, the timing doesn't change at all.

When he first started skating with Vanessa he was looking at exploring other avenues - nothing would stipulate that they couldn't do that while he also did SOI.

A contract wouldn't have stopped him from exploring other avenues if he wanted to nor forced him to tell her any earlier. It would have maybe changed the timeline of events that took place and that's only in the case of a pandemic.

As for two-timing - well, it wouldn't have kept him from that either...
The opportunity arose and became a realistic option because he wasn't on tour..

What Eric did on a moral ground is an entirely different thing...

 

[4everchan]

Would he have?? I disagree.

Assuming no pandemic, he would have done the tour with Meagan. He wouldn't be practicing with Vanessa right now - they would be on tour. Assuming a pandemic, well nothing in his contract would state that he couldn't do what he wanted with his free time. Ergo, he could have been practicing with Vanessa. It wouldn't break his contract - as he had planned to do both.

As for being forced to tell her, I think the timing of everything would have been slower. He woudn't have practiced with Vanessa so early if they were on tour. If they weren't on tour, the timing doesn't change at all.

When he first started skating with Vanessa he was looking at exploring other avenues - nothing would stipulate that they couldn't do that while he also did SOI.

A contract wouldn't have stopped him from exploring other avenues if he wanted to nor forced him to tell her any earlier. It would have maybe changed the timeline of events that took place and that's only in the case of a pandemic.

As for two-timing - well, it wouldn't have kept him from that either...
The opportunity arose and became a realistic option because he wasn't on tour..

What Eric did on a moral ground is an entirely different thing...

i don't know.. I am not Eric Radford... I am not willing to go further as all we have is Meagan's interview. So, as a simple fan of the sport, I am going to just rely on this. As far as this thread is concerned, i will do like some other posters have done here : I am done unless there are news about this... as far as I am concerned, the rest is purely hypothetic

 

[chasingneverland]

i don't know.. I am not Eric Radford... I am not willing to go further as all we have is Meagan's interview. So, as a simple fan of the sport, I am going to just rely on this. As far as this thread is concerned, i will do like some other posters have done here : I am done unless there are news about this... as far as I am concerned, the rest is purely hypothetic

That's just it though.

All we do have is one person's side.

We don't even know if Eric himself was hurt by first thinking Meagan was happy for him and then having her share her side of the story afterwords. (She's more than entitled to and I'm GLAD she did but that's all it is. One person's side of the story.)

So while what Eric did might be morally wrong (at least from Meagan's point of view), it's not technically wrong - a contract might change that depending on how it was structured but unlikely.

So you're left with hurt feelings and miscommunication. And that..well a relationship (at least professional) ended..(and legal contracts can't save you from emotional involvement..)

And it's also why I don't understand the vilifying of one person - when we only have the other person's side of the story..

Do I feel bad for Meagan? Yes, she feels betrayed and her feels are hurt. That's completely valid. (But that's all we know.)

And really it comes down to why Eric didn't want to tell her earlier (it's a different question as to if he should have). Either he didn't tell her because he didn't want to hurt her feelings or he didn't tell her because he didn't want to have any interference from her whether by her opposition/wanting to compete (we know that's unlikely to have happened but he didn't) or he didn't tell her because he wanted to leave the door open for shows with her in the future. In all likelihood, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. None of that makes Eric a villain - it makes him human. (People are complex with multifaceted aspects and interests/desires/fears/hopes/etc - emotional, social, personal, professional, etc - and even those can be at opposing ends with the others.)

And we don't know why Eric didn't tell her earlier...
He hasn't told us and Meagan can only speculate. (As can the rest of us.)

 

[TontoK]

It wouldn't have made Eric want to stay. Which arguably was where the betrayal really happened. He didn't want to skate with her and saw no future with her. Worse he didn't want to tell her. A contract wouldn't have changed him wanting to tell her or not. Although Meagan herself acknowledges that it could be at least partially because he didn't want to hurt her. Did he hurt her worse by not telling her? Maybe. Probably. But clearly he did care about her on some level.

When everything is stripped away, that's the bottom line, isn't it? He didn't want to skate with her any longer.

We'll probably never know what exactly led to this decision on his part - maybe a combination of events - but that's the key fact. Chatter about betrayal, verbal agreements, contracts, COVID, babies and family... it's irrelevant. If he wanted to skate with her, he would, but he doesn't.

He has a right to move on with his life in whatever direction he'd like, and she has the right to be hurt.

 

[chasingneverland]

When everything is stripped away, that's the bottom line, isn't it? He didn't want to skate with her any longer.

Yeah, exactly.

Because that's at the core of it - he didn't want to skate with her. Therefore, she was always going to be hurt (him not wanting to skate with her would feel like betrayal) regardless and he was going to leave regardless. Everything else is just a matter of timing. Maybe the degree of impact might change but even that is hypothetical and emotions change and are fickle - Meagan's did in this case anyway - and there is a strong chance that neither have fully worked out their feelings/emotions and might not for several years.

Him not wanting to skate with her was the driving force. (For whatever reason, maybe multiple ones - we don't know. And that's irrelevant.) What the catalyst for that was we also don't know completely - Eric himself may not even be able to pinpoint or say the specific moment or event or even multiples ones that lead to him not wanting to skate with her. The result - a broken partnership and hurt feelings - was always going to be the eventual conclusion.

(Also not wanting to continue a relationship - professional or personal or otherwise - doesn't make you a villain.)

 

[ladyjane]

I love all this drama (I confessed earlier to being a gossip monger) but in the end it all comes to this: there existed a partnership and friendship which is put on the line. Timing is the big issue, as is the reason why the timing was bad. Could be because of friendship and not wanting to hurt the friend, could be because one partner wanted to keep the options open. Nobody is a villain here, it's understandable Meagan is unhappy (so would I be) and it's also understandable that Eric wants to do his own thing. No contract would change this, there being a pandemic or not might have, and there's just ordinary people who don't communicate very well.

So, I'm still unhappy about Meagan's feelings and situation, and also still excited about this new pair. Maybe one day the former friends and partners will be able to make up in the future, and maybe they will not. Time does heal, and at least there isn't a skater who gave up another career just to be used by another to find out one's own priorities (Yes, I've read the interview in IFS with Lubov which was heartbreaking). I'm just looking forward to seeing a new pair and their programmes. And rooting for all Canadian pairs - whether the new pair is part of the Olympic discussion or not. XX