Dancing On Ice romances: All the couples who met on the show

Before the 2023 Dancing On Ice cast had even set foot in the rink, Joey Essex was already rumoured to be dating his skating partner Vanessa Bauer.

Although Essex has remained coy on what - if anything - is actually happening, it wouldn't be the first time the show's stars had found love on the ice.

Read more: Dancing On Ice 2023's couples revealed

The ITV contest has even been responsible for a few weddings, as well as plenty of broken hearts...

All the Dancing On Ice romances so far

Vanessa Bauer and Wes Nelson

This isn't the only year Bauer has been rumoured to have formed a close connection with her celebrity partner.

In 2019, Wes Nelson joined the show still coupled up with Love Island co-star Megan Barton Hanson, but after a number of very close performances including one in which Nelson and Bauer appeared to kiss, he and Barton Hanson split mid series.

Nelson claimed that his girlfriend had been jealous of his time-consuming training regime with skater Bauer, but what really happened between them was never clear.

Brianne Delcourt and Danny Young

Pro skater Brianne Delcourt has done her fair share of boosting the Dancing On Ice romance tally, ever since her first year on the show in 2010.

That year, she got together with Frankie Poultney's skating partner Danny Young and even moved in with the Coronation Street actor.

However, their love story did not last beyond the show's live tour.

Brianne Delcourt and Sam Attwater

Delcourt returned in 2011 and skated all the way to the final, which she won with EastEnders star Sam Attwater.

However, their series victory was not the only thing they were remembered for, as shortly after the season began they announced that they were in love.

Read more: All the Love Island winter 2023 contestants

But when photos emerged of Attwater kissing another (married) pro skater with a seemingly unbothered Delcourt also in the picture, the story quickly unravelled.

Delcourt and Attwater claimed they had decided to call off their romance so as not to distract from their skating, but many viewers suspected they'd been had to drum up headlines for the show.

Brianne Delcourt and Matt Lapinskas

Two years later, Delcourt was a runner-up in the 2013 series with another EastEnders star Matt Lapinskas, and also found herself with a new boyfriend.

She and Lapinskas hit the headlines for a few reasons, one of them being that he was apparently still dating his soap co-star Shona McGarty when they first got together.

The couple strenuously denied that was the case, but Delcourt opened up on their real story after moving in with Lapinskas and then being heartbroken when she found out he'd been getting close to a new theatre co-star.

She says he was keen to start their relationship before breaking up with McGarty, but had agreed to cover for him and say they'd waited until they were single as she was so in love.

Brianne Delcourt and Kevin Kilbane

Luckily for the Canadian skater, she finally found her happy ever after through the 2020 series when she was paired with former footballer Kevin Kilbane.

Again, Delcourt fell for her partner quickly, but this time it turned out to be lasting love as she ended up marrying Kilbane.

Delcourt already had a daughter when she met Kilbane, and the couple have gone on to have two more children together.

Sylvain Longchambon and Jennifer Metcalfe

Returning to the ice in 2023 is pro skater Sylvain Longchambon, who also has a much-documented personal history on the show.

Longchambon began dating his 2011 partner, Hollyoaks actor Jennifer Metcalfe, and the couple spent two happy years together...until he was matched with Coronation Street star Samia Ghadie in 2013 and it all fell apart.

Read more: All the Dancing On Ice winners so far

Metcalfe told how he had left her at Christmas just a few weeks before his series with Ghadie began, and when they were already in training together.

Her co-star Jorgie Porter couldn't resist getting a dig in when she was matched with Longchambon for the 2014 All Stars series, sarcastically asking: "Is he going to be my boyfriend now?"

Sylvain Longchambon and Samia Ghadie

Longchambon and Ghadie's relationship may have got off to a controversial start, but the pair had clearly fallen for each other and theirs is one of the most enduring Dancing On Ice romances.

They married in 2016 and Ghadie, who already had a daughter from her first marriage, welcomed a son with Longchambon in 2015.

Frankie Poultney and David Seaman

Another Dancing On Ice success story was Frankie Poultney and David Seaman.

The former England goalkeeper had a completely different skating partner when he first competed in series one, but met on the live tour in 2008 and fell in love, marrying in 2015.

Poultney and Seaman skated together for the All Stars series in 2014 and in 2022 appeared as the first ever duo on The Masked Dancer, where they performed as Pillar and Post.

Christopher Dean and Karen Barber

Dancing On Ice's romances haven't been confined to the contestants - two of the judges have fallen in love, too.

Christopher Dean has been with the show for every series, now serving as co-head judge and choreographer with his skating partner Jayne Torvill.

But in 2011, he got together with his friend of many years and a one-time judge of the series, Karen Barber, who he is still in a relationship with.

Dancing On Ice returns on Sunday at 6.30pm on ITV1.