ICE SHOW ROMANCES

Translation of an article by Maria Remizova printed in the Russian Language publication “Komsomolskaja Pravda on November 27, 2008.

Thanks to two almost identical ice shows – “The Ice Period” and “Starry Ice” figure skating became the most popular sport in Russia, just like it was in the former Soviet Union.

Two main TV channels – Channel One and “Russia” -- this year again are fighting in mortal combat for ratings. And as the saying goes – in war the ends justify the means. The channels are not only employing the best coaches, selecting the right jury and other interested parties, but are also paying attention to the wild personal lives of the participants. As if on their command, families and hearts are broken on ice. And it is no wonder that romances flourish in the shows, since the star participants are practically living with each other on ice for months.

For example Tatiana Navka, who was for several years married to a coach of the Ice Period Alexander Zhulin, and who always claimed that their marriage was great, has been seen in the company of Marat Basharov. She was seen leaving in the morning the Moscow Ritz Carlton hotel where she secretly meets Basharov. Basharov and Navka are not even hiding their romance any more from the people around them. This was not the first romance of Bashariov with a figure skater. His first flame was Maria Butirskaya. He was so much in love with her that he was considering divorcing his wife, but Maria was not ready for him and broke up their relationship.

Alexander Zhulin was not falling much behind Navka and was seen in public with young female skaters.

Figure skater Sergey Slavnov found his love on the ice. His partner - the young actress Anastasia Zadoroznaja, became ill during the show and he was so kind to her during that period that her heart melted and she fell in love with him.

The Ice Period show radically affected the life of another figure skating couple – Margarita Drobjazko and Povilas Vanagas. Before the show, these sportspeople lived very well for 10 years. Than suddenly Povilas asked for a divorce based on the fact that Margarita started a romance with her partner – the actor Alexander Djachenko, with whom, it has been said, she is currently sharing an apartment.

Although Vanagas was not lonely for long - he was seen going out with his partner – the actress Ksenia Alferova.

Evgeny Pluschenko initially supported the decision of his girlfriend Jana Rudkovskaya to participate in the show Ice Period. He even gave her some training. It is not a secret that the couple is very rarely together – they live in two different cities – Evgeniy is living and practicing in St. Petersburg and Jana is living and working in Moscow. But seeing who she was paired with at the show made Pluschenko worried. The figure skater Ruslan Goncharov was a serious competitor for the heart of Jana. If Rudkovskaja would not be engaged to Pluschenko, she would fall for Goncharov. The unavailability of Jana drives Ruslan crazy. Seeing this situation Pluschenko started spending more time with Jana and even accompanied her to practices and tapings.

After her divorce from Averbuch, Irina Lobacheva and Ilja stayed friends, but Irina was very depressed. Her partner at the show - Dmitry Marjanov, helped her to get over Ilja and out of depression.

Alexey Yagudin did not have much luck with romances in the previous shows. He, who used to win in competitions, was mostly unhappy with the performances as skaters of his female partners on ice. This year he is skating with a 21 years old actress Valeria Lanskaja who was trained as a dancer from childhood. Valeria met Yagudin a few months before the start of the show when they both worked at a serial – “My Hot Ice.”
Yagudin started paying attention to her then, but she was not interested, since she was getting married to her than boyfriend of three years – Andrey. Yagudin himself was not free at that time – he was having a romance with singer Sasha Saveljeva. Their relationship was broken up by another figure skater – Tatiana Totmjanina. But that intrigue was not long lasting either. Currently Yaguding is going out with his partner – Valeria Lanskaya, who apparently is no longer engaged to Andrey.