Kristy Swanson

Olympic medal winner leaves family after skating with original Vampire Slayer

Lloyd Eisler’s heart has been stolen by a vampire slayer.

The two-time Olympic figure skating medalist and skating coach has fallen for his reality television skating partner, Kristy Swanson, a former Playboy cover girl best known for her role as the original Buffy in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The two met last fall when they were partners on Fox’s Skating with Celebrities, a show that matches figure-skating champions with actors looking for a popularity boost.

The duo "started dating after Lloyd officially separated from his wife" in November, the pair’s publicist, Cheryl Kagan, said in a statement sent to The Globe and Mail. "They are very happy."

The news had on-line message boards buzzing and was fodder for tabloid television shows this week. But it was unwelcome news for Mr. Eisler’s wife of three years, who lives in the small Eastern Ontario village of Bath with the couple’s two boys — one 21 months old and the other eight weeks old.

Marcia Eisler, who met the tall, muscular Olympian at a Kingston bar where she worked, said she and her husband had been working to resolve marital troubles when Skating with Celebrities began taping late last August.

An on-ice version of ABC’s hit Dancing with the Stars, the show has paired up B-list celebrities with six former figure-skating champions, including Nancy Kerrigan and Canadians Kurt Browning and Mr. Eisler. The pairs compete in each episode until one pair was left standing. It completed taping in mid-October.

Mr. Eisler, 42, who was 1993 world champion and two-time Olympic medalist with his pairs figure skating partner Isabelle Brasseur, was paired with Ms. Swanson, 35, whose most recent work includes the film Dude, Where’s My Car?

In the show’s latest episode, the Eisler-Swanson duo, clad in black sequins, advanced to the top three in a romantic routine skated to a love song. The show’s website described their chemistry as "stunning."

Mr. Eisler couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday and his publicist said both he and Ms. Swanson wouldn’t be doing interviews.

Mrs. Eisler, who is a teacher on maternity leave, says she is being bombarded with requests for interviews from the media about the scandal.

"It’s frustrating because I don’t necessarily like my private life exposed," she said. "But at the same time, I want people to know the truth."

She told the Kingston Whig-Standard that she and her husband separated in the summer and were working on their relationship in early August when he received an offer from Fox to appear on Skating with Celebrities.

"I said in my wedding vows that I would do what I could to encourage his hopes and dreams and I said, ’Go off to Los Angeles,’ " she said. "It was a great opportunity for him."

On the reality show’s website, Mr. Eisler’s biography describes how he and Marcia married in August, 2002, in Bath.

The couple "welcomed Ethan into the world in August, 2004," and in December, they had their second son, Seth.

Rumours first began swirling about the new love match after Mr. Eisler and Ms. Swanson showed up in Kingston together this month to promote the show.

Mrs. Eisler says she’s moving on.

"I’m great," she said. "I have a fabulous support system between family and friends. . . . I’ve got two little boys and they’re going to grow up with great moral values." She said she learned about the affair when Ms. Swanson forwarded her e-mails that she had received from Mr. Eisler.

His marriage isn’t the only thing Mr. Eisler has ended recently.

In December, he quit as director of an elite skating group in Kingston that he had helped launch in 2004.

He had also been scheduled to be one of the Canadian Olympic Committee’s athlete advisers in Turin. He accepted the duty, but quit at the last minute because he said it conflicted with his obligations to promote Skating with Celebrities.

Although the pair hooked up last fall, their publicist said she had "absolutely no idea" why they waited until now to announce their relationship.

The final episodes of Skating with Celebrities will air Feb. 27 and March 2.