Hi, I'm Paula Sanderson

Let’s be real.

Tessa and Scott deserve their own post. If you want Romance, don’t watch the Bachelor. Watch Scott look at Tessa.

Here are my top Tessa and Scott moments, plus a few throwbacks.

Olympics 2018

Free Dance

Can ANYTHING beat this free dance? Apparently, the French can, but let’s be real – this was spectacular. When she jumps backwards on him at the start. When they both hit their mark at ‘Roxanne’ with such ferocity.Those perfect twizzles. When she basically does a backflip into their epic lift! And then… when it transitions into ‘Come What May’ and she reaches up- I just want to start crying it’s so perfect. You can just tell they put everything – EVERYTHING – into this performance. We were sitting on the couch watching them get their technical points and as they got closer and closer to that 63.98 that the French had, Tessa and I started jumping up and down and yelling at the TV. It was one of the most exhilarating sporting moments I’ve ever witnessed. It was so close that no one knew if they had won it or not. Then… they win it, but they don’t know that they’ve won… and then Scott figures it out and you’ve never seen joy like that. I talk about magical moments a lot- but I cried. I literally just sat there bawling. It was perfection. I never want them to quit ever. They need to skate forever.

Short Dance:

Obviously, this is the dance that put them in contention for the big win. It is fun – these two know how to move. It’s a great song choice and the mixing of the music is done extremely well. But as much as this skate is perfect – they somehow they beat it. You need to appreciate this skate in order to get the full impact of how great their free skate is.

The Gala Performance

Well if they made me cry by just skating really well… they made me cry harder as they had the most iconic Canadian moment as they skated to the Tragically Hip’s ‘Long Time Running’. The knowledge that this was their LAST Olympic performance fueled the feeling of bittersweet endings. The song choice – by Canada’s late poet Gord Downie – just added to the moment. Like they could have skated to any song and I would have been a mess, but because it was a Downie song – it was just next level. I watched this performance and immediately bought tickets to Stars on Ice. TAKE MY MONEY.

TBT – Skating

The OG Gold in Vancouver

Aka the moment when these two became stars. I remember this Olympics extremely clearly. I was in 1st year university. We watched the opening ceremony in the 2nd floor common room. I was on a plane flying back to Halifax when Crosby scored the goal. Tessa and Scott were perfect. I don’t remember where I was. I remember their class. That lift. I remember them winning and feeling the joy with them. I legitimately fell in Love with them. This is the moment:

Stay 2014 Gala

If you want Romance, don’t watch the Bachelor. Watch Tessa and Scott perform to Stay. It is one of a kind. These two have a an ability to create magic. They can tell a story and you can believe them. They are not athletes- they are artists. This is such a wonderful piece- but is a bit darker than most of their routines. If you cry I won’t judge you…

Jack and Diane: 2009

This is the moment that I started #shipping Tessa and Scott. It’s that feeling of teenage love. They’re just two kids growing up in small town Ontario. You believe that this is their true story. When they play that clapping game … I died. This could be the start of their romcom. They are teenagers when they preformed this and that’s also what makes this so special – there is an authenticity to them that other skaters just don’t have. So here’s your challenge: watch this and try not to ship them.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Tessa and Scott do simple romance so well. AGAIN it’s that authenticity. The feeling that this is real. It doesn’t hurt that they just fit together – you can tell that there is a deep bond and holding each other’s hand is completely natural.

Other Great Moments

TEDx

Athletes traditionally make great motivational speakers. I’ve heard my fair share of solid talks. Tessa and Scott have a great topic here in teamwork and partnerships. However where I feel like their skating is often authentic – I feel like their speeches are often forced and they lose their charm. It’s not ideal – and obviously we want them to be successful – but here’s hoping they find their voice cause they’ve got great things to say.

The TV Show

Bring this back. Season 2 asap. This was SUCH a great show. Everything I want in a TV show is here. A little bit of drama, Tessa and Scott, some wonderful Canadian moments. However as much as this show had it’s great moments – this show had one major fault. In one episode, Tessa and Patrick ‘Ciddy’ Chan go to a TIFF event. In a voice over/interview Tessa talks all about how she’d like to date but life is a bit complicated – which would be normal, however, it’s laid over top of her flirting with… Jian Ghomeshi. To make matters worse, you hear Scott talking all about how he can’t be with her all the time and all I want to do is yell at the screen THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO DITCH HER. This is the time to STEP UP. But other than this one retrospective awkward moment – it’s 100% worth watching.