So Katia-Ilya and Rena-John are now really, REALLY married!?

[Frau Muller]

I could help but notice that, in two separate TV shows in the past days, skaters were introduced as "wife of/husband of" or "married," even though they were long thought to be just engaged or 'living together.' I refer to:

1. Rena Inoue/John Baldwin, Jr. - In yesterday's Kaleidoscope special, they were introduced as married. (And here I thought that they were still just engaged after the dramatic on-ice proposal years ago!)

2. Katia Gordeeva/Ilya Kullik - In the recent Holiday Moments on Ice special on Thanksgiving weekend, host Brian Boitano introduced Katya as "the wife" of Ilya Kullik before her solo and, I think, did the same for Ilya ("the husband of..."). So they really, really tied the knot, officially, with legal document?

Belated congratulations to both happy couples!

[nro]

Katia and Ilia tied the knot many years ago. According to Wikipedia, they married in San Francisco on June 10, 2002.

[TwizzlerS]

The news about Inoue and Baldwin caught me off-guard. I thought John would have arranged some kind of spectacle like having their wedding on HGTV.

[Frau Muller]

The news about Inoue and Baldwin caught me off-guard. I thought John would have arranged some kind of spectacle like having their wedding on HGTV.

ROTFL!!!

[UMBS Go Blue]

(((Rena)))

[Willowway]

even though they were long thought to be just engaged or 'living together.'

Ilia and Katia have been referenced as married in articles (including reports from fans direct from Ilia or Katia) for years. Katia mentioned at a figurine signing many years ago that they married a few days before Liza's birthday (which is on June 15) and that was reported on various boards; the specifics, date and place of their marriage, were also in this major article about them in 2007 http://www.ifsmagazine.com/archive/2...GUST/INDEX.PHP

[nursebetty]

Have to agree............it was like they were making a special point. No matter what you have heard............

[PDilemma]

The news about Inoue and Baldwin caught me off-guard. I thought John would have arranged some kind of spectacle like having their wedding on HGTV.

I was expecting a priest or justice of the peace to skate out and marry them after their free skate at Nats last year.

[Frau Muller]

I was expecting a priest or justice of the peace to skate out and marry them after their free skate at Nats last year.

They'll have a booth in the trade show at Greensboro - serving wedding cake!

[Frau Muller]

Ilia and Katia have been referenced as married in articles (including reports from fans direct from Ilia or Katia) for years. Katia mentioned at a figurine signing many years ago that they married a few days before Liza's birthday (which is on June 15) and that was reported on various boards; the specifics, date and place of their marriage, were also in this major article about them in 2007 http://www.ifsmagazine.com/archive/2...GUST/INDEX.PHP

Wait a sec...I now remember something about their separation a year ago or so. Did they split, then get back together? Something odd last year, around the time when Ilya came back with his deep tan ("surfer dude" look), skating in the Michael Weiss benefit in Fall 2009, there were postings on FSU about a split of some sort. (Not I! Maybe from some russian news agency...perhaps to be taken with a grain of salt.)

That's why it seemed so odd now. "Almost married"...then "revealed to be married after daughter's birth"...then split a year ago...then "back to normal and married" this year.

p.s. - Ilya looks completely different this year - much closer to his 1998 looks. Less tan. Slimmer. Maybe a little nipping and tucking. Always wonderful skating, even in the Bloated Surfer Dude period.

[skatesindreams]

Lots of talk on this board doesn't mean that they were really "split".
Making a living as a skater now, often means having to go where the offers are.

Discussing one's private life should be a matter of personal choice.
No one is obligated to say anything to the "public" at all.

[Frau Muller]

The buzz surrounding Katia and Ilya -- "now you see them, now you don't" -- just had me wondering. Besides, Katia is now back on the "High Family Values Tour"! (wink)

Happy for both couples. Hopefully we'll get to see some Rena & John wedding photos soon!

[Willowway]

I hope you're joking about the nip and tuck - if not, that's the way false rumors start and no one wants to do that. Ilia's a handsome guy and he's a 33 year old handsome guy which isn't very old, but he looks his age. I see him up close I imagine as often or more often than any fan and his face is definitely more mature each year -I like that. Lots of laugh lines and a few 'maturity' lines for good measure - he earned them honestly. No, no nip and tuck. Actually maturing alot -more lined, more rugged, more angular. That's typically how most men age in the face and it looks good on Ilia.

His physique has changed over the last 2-3 years and maybe that's what is registering with you. I don't know what you've seen but "bloated"? Show me that because I've never seen it. He never varies more than a couple of pounds in either direction. Lots (or pounds) of long hair, yeah; I think the headband was an experiment as was the mustache - guys do that sort of thing, my sons certainly do and I've developed the patience to wait until the next defining cut or shave. Ilia has consciously developed a much stronger upper body (years of martial arts training as a devoted aikido student and I suspect some serious time in the gym) and he is no longer the coltish, all legs-slim shoulders boy he was in 1998 so I don't see that physical comparison. He now has a man's physique with more balance between the upper and lower body. He says he is stronger now than he has ever been and I think that's obvious. Recent evidence here on front page of www.kuliks-krew.com Not bad!

[Mafke]

Yeah, they're really married, but do to an unfortunate glitch in the paperwork Katya ended up married to John and Rena to Ilya.

All four express gratitude that the original paperwork snafu (wherein Katya was married to Rena and Ilya to John) was at least straightened out and are mostly dealing with the situation with magnamity and good humor (though Katya is said to be suffering from panic attacks).

[Satellitegirl]

(((Rena)))

my thoughts exactly.

[Willowway]

Mafke -

LOL - I needed a good laugh. Thank you!

[twinsissv]

[QUOTE=Mafke;2994427]Yeah, they're really married, but do to an unfortunate glitch in the paperwork Katya ended up married to John and Rena to Ilya.

All four express gratitude that the original paperwork snafu (wherein Katya was married to Rena and Ilya to John) was at least straightened out and are mostly dealing with the situation with magnamity and good humor (though Katya is said to be suffering from panic attacks).[/QUOTE

[Frau Muller]

I ..... I don't know what you've seen but "bloated"? ....!

He was in Sept 2009 at the Weiss Gala. Not this year. He has lost a lot of weight since Sept 09.

[Willowway]

I was at the same show and I didn't see what you say. But I'll post a link to photos of the 2009 Weiss show and we'll all take a look again.

[Willowway]

Ilia's face does look broader with his hair pulled back the way it was at that time (and I did tell him at the time that I thought the style aged him beyond his years so maybe you'd agree with that), but if this is "bloated" then we differ on the definition of the word. http://kuliks-krew.com/photos/Weiss%...s%202009.shtml

and a recent close up, laugh lines and all, from the Disson Rapid City show in early November 2010, click here

Please accept my apology for making a bit of a 'thing' of this (guilty, your honor) but frankly I'm very fond of Ilia (in the way I'm fond of my sons' friends who are all at least as old as Ilia) and don't like to see him personally insulted - bloated, plastic surgery - when the facts don't necessarily support it.