Canada's Gilles, Poirier reflect on Grand Prix figure skating memories from Kelowna, B.C.
Nov 1, 2026
Andy and Piper look who's on the scene. Hi Dan.
Paul is here. Paul, great to see you. Hey listen,
it's been a while since that starry night in Milano.
How has life been? It's been good. It's been busy.
Busy.
Life feels really full right now.
We've had a chance to take a break, take care of ourselves,
teach some seminars, go across Canada and the world doing shows.
It's been exciting and fun. Do you miss it?
Being at the competition? Yeah.
In some ways, no, I know what those athletes go through,
I know how stressful it is, and that part I don't miss, but, you know,
I love performing, and I'm glad we still have opportunities to do that.
Okay, let's talk about Kelowna.
This place holds a big spot for you and Piper.
2014, your first Grand Prix medal.
2019 here at Skate Canada, your first gold.
Some memories, what pops up for you Paul?
I think this is such an amazing place,
I have so many great memories skating here
and it's always so special to perform
in Canada to have our Canadian fans here so
you know the Canadian athletes competing
this weekend are in for a treat, they get to
perform in front of a home crowd and that's always so special.
Okay last one, this is a little different territory
for me because normally
you're a package deal, I'm interviewing you and Piper at the same time.
She's back in the studio of course,
maybe a shout out to your friend and partner.
Hey, Piper. Hope you're having a blast.
I'll see you in a few days on the ice, as always.
And see you soon.
See you soon. Okay. Andy, Piper, back to you.
Wow. Sneaky, sneaky.
You didn't know.
You told me about this.
Yes.
But I knew he was there.
Yeah, well, I was about to say, wait a minute,
the two of you are always in communication,
because he did say he wanted to see you on the ice in a few days.
But how about your memories of Kelowna?
He gave his thoughts there, the first time winning gold,
kind of skate Canada.
I think we also have this picture behind us
You guys in Halloween, I mean ice dancers always in great costumes,
but I think that was Halloween.
That was Halloween and you know what, I kind of,
when I see this, I reflect a little bit about
with Steven Gogolev, what he went through,
and this rhythm dance or short dance back in
the time. Paul hit the wall
and it was just like, it wasn't our best skate,
but we fought back and we got our first Grand Prix medal. So again,
Crazy things happen but you can overcome that and so when I look
at stuff like that there's just like little memories and things
that we learned along the way that has helped us achieve larger things
and again winning our first Grand Prix medal there I will
always remember that but I think it's time for other people
and other athletes to make new memories.
Well and that is exactly what the Canadians are doing.

