CHELSEE Healey was supposed to skate with dancer Sylvian Longchambon – that is until Chelsee’s closeness to Jennifer Metcalfe came to light.
Jennifer previously dated the French skater, before his relationship with fellow actress Samia Ghadi, with who he is now married with a child.
With that being the case, DOI bosses determined the match-up would be a particularly unwise one, so instead put Chelsee with pro skater Andy Buchanan.
A show source says: “ITV bosses originally wanted to pair Chelsee up with Sylvian but decided against it pretty quickly.
“She’s close friends with Jennifer Metcalfe and to skate with Jen’s ex after all the Dancing On Ice drama and how they split up – it would be a nightmare.
“The tension would be unbearable – everyone thinks Sylvian will be avoiding Chelsee backstage at the show because of the history. She’s really happy to be skating with Andy.”
Sylvian, 44, has been married to Coronation Street actress Samia Ghadi, 42, since 2016, after they met as partners on the 2013 series of DOI.
They share eight-year-old son Yves together, while Samia also has daughter Freya with ex-husband, Matt Smith.
Before that he dated Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe, 41, after they were paired up on the 2011 series of the show.
But Sylvian left Jennifer on Christmas Day 2013 – and began dating Samia around the same time. Samia however has denied having anything to do with the split.
But speaking at the time Jennifer said the break-up felt like “death”.
She said: “It’s like death. I felt gutted. It was the worst Christmas ever.”
Chelsee, 36, and Jennifer play sisters Goldie and Mercedes McQueen, in Channel 4 soap, Hollyoaks.
But they are also extremely close in real life too and are often spotted out and about in their native Manchester.
Last year, Jennifer was front and centre at Chelsee’s gender reveal party, when she confirmed she was pregnant with another girl.
Chelsee is now a proud mum to two daughters, Coco, five, and 11-month-old Cookie.
Before she started training for DOI, Chelsee said she’d sought advice from Jennifer, as well as fellow former DOI contestant and Hollyoaks actress Jorgie Porter.
Speaking to Closer, she said: “I’ve asked my Hollyoaks friends Jen Metcalfe and Jorgie Porter, who’ve done the show before, for advice. I told them to give me a few lessons. I definitely won’t be as good as them!”
