The Winter Olympics 2026 are just around the corner, but things are already heating up. This is everything we know about the shocking figure skating scandal plaguing the sport ahead of the Winter Olympics.
The figure skating world is engulfed in a riveting scandal that might overshadow the competition entirely. Recently, a fallout has come between retired French ice dancer Gabriella Papadakis and her former partner, Guillaume Cizeron, which has stirred controversy, leading to her removal from NBC’s Olympic coverage.
In her new memoir, Papadakis dissed her ex-partner, which has prevented her from serving as an NBC analyst for the Olympic Games, even though they’re just around the corner. The 30-year-old released Pour ne pas disparaître (So as Not to Disappear) on Thursday, where she called out her former partner for being “controlling, demanding,” and “critical”, according to US Weekly.
Cizeron, 31, blasted the book as a “smear campaign” and released a statement sharing his “incomprehension and disagreement with the labels attributed to him.”
“The book contains false information, including statements I never made, which I consider serious,” Cizeron claimed. “For more than 20 years, I have shown deep respect for Gabriella Papadakis.”
He also noted that “despite the gradual erosion of [their] bond,” their partnership “was built on equal collaboration and marked by success and mutual support.”
The duo broke 34 records during their time together, and they began partnering as children, winning two Olympic medals: a gold medal in 2022 and a silver in 2018.
Papadakis worked for NBC as an analyst since December 2025 after retiring, but the network called her memoir a “conflict of interest” after Cizeron’s lawyers filed a formal notice to cease the “dissemination of defamatory statements” about him. Because of that, Papadakis has been removed from NBC.
“I’m not dealing with it very well, I’ve cried a lot,” Papadakis told L’Équipe (via Associated Press) on Friday. “I was super disappointed because I was just beginning that career as a commentator. … I’m experiencing a feeling of injustice.”
Papadakis has also defended her decision to write the book and her statement, saying that she “wrote this book for myself, for future generations, and for all the women who have experienced the same thing or worse and who don’t have access to such a platform.”
“In my current value system, I can’t justify remaining silent,” she added when speaking to Le Temps during an interview published Monday. She claimed that she “did not write to accuse but to describe [her] experience.”
Unfortunately, Papadakis will not be an analyst for NBC during the Winter Olympics 2026; however, Cizeron will be competing in the games alongside his new partner, Laurence Fournier Beaudry. The two have been working together since January 2025.
Viewers can watch the Olympics kick off on February 6 in Italy, with the ice dancing competition beginning the same day.