Talk about a rocky relationship

It’s just a painted sheet of ice, but imagine it as 150 linear feet of wallpaper and voila, the ultimate test of marriage awaits.

That’s the potentially dark side of doubles curling with a spouse or significant other. The serious upside, for the first time in 2018, is an Olympic berth.

Canada will undoubtedly send a strong team to PyeongChang, which will emerge from the trials in Portage la Prairie, Man., in January. It won’t necessarily be a spousal set, but there are star- studded unions in the mix: Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing, Dawn and Mike McEwen and Laura Crocker and Geoff Walker, who are engaged.

Kim and Wayne Tuck of Ontario have a lower profile, but a legit shot at a trials berth. They played the traditional mixed game together for ages and won the Canadian mixed doubles title in 2014, so they know the game pretty well. Even so, they are still figuring out how to co-exist as mates and teammates.

“When you’re playing with your significant other, I think you have to have thick skin,” said Kim. “I’ve always been the cheerleader on any of the teams that I’ve played with. To curl with Wayne, that’s not his persona. He’s a skip by trait. Not that skips aren’t cheerleaders, but most of the time skips are a tougher personality.

“That took me a really long time to learn and I’m still learning it. We’ve been curling together since 2002 or earlier and that’s one of the things that’s hardest as a couple.”

The Tucks will be at the Sherwood Park Curling Club this weekend for the Service Experts International Doubles Classic. It will also feature two teams that have already qualified for trials — Calgary’s Kalynn Park and Charley Thomas and Saskatoon’s Marliese Kasner and Dustin Kalthoff.