The legendary ice dancers have retired from performing after a 50-year career saw them win world and Olympic titles
Torvill and Dean’s close friendship helped them to become all-time greats of their sport(Image: Don Arnold/WireImage)
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean will reflect on their 50-year career on the ice as part of a fly-on-the-wall documentary on ITV1 tonight, after the legendary skating partners retired from performing earlier this year.
Known as Torvill and Dean, the Nottingham-born duo became two of the greatest ice dancers of all time, winning British, European, Olympic and world titles, with their now-legendary performance of Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics one of the most-watched TV events ever in the UK.
After retiring from professional competition in 1998, they took up roles as coaches – and later, judges – on ITV show Dancing on Ice, and they have now worked together for five decades.
But while Torvill and Dean’s chemistry on and off the ice helped them achieve legendary status in their sport, it has also seen the nature of their relationship questioned throughout their careers, with many mistakenly believing they are romantically involved with each other.
In reality, Torvill, 68, has been married to American sound engineer Phil Christensen for over 30 years, adopting two children, Kieran and Jessica, following struggles with her fertility.
Dean, meanwhile, has been married twice – on both occasions to fellow skaters – and the 67-year-old has been in a relationship with former Dancing on Ice judge Karen Barber since 2011.
But while Torvill and Dean credit not dating or sleeping with each other with their success on the ice, and their continued friendship, they have previously admitted to their relationship “crossing the line” years ago.
The skate partners have revealed they kissed before being paired with each other
In an interview with Piers Morgan in 2013, Dean admitted that the skating partners had “dabbled” romantically when they were teenagers, as they shared a kiss during a team trip.
“We were kids,” he said. “It was before we were skating partners. The team would go to competitions at different rinks. It was a back-of-the-bus kiss on one of those coach trips.”
Torvill added that the kiss occurred before they began skating together as a duo, explaining: “Later, when I was about 14 and still not into boys much, my coach said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t date your skating partner because if you fall out he won’t want to skate with you.’ That always stuck in my mind.”
During an appearance on the High Performance Podcast last year, the pair were asked if their relationship had ever “crossed the line,” with Dean responding: “When we were younger, we were sort of, for a minute, but it didn’t last very long.
“I think we just eventually got into that place where we knew that we were the best of friends. I think that mutual friendship has got us to this point now, 50 years later.”
Torvill added: “But it was before major competitions and you know, when you’re kids, when you’re teenagers, and people just go out on trips and go to competitions and afterwards have a bit of fun. But, I think still even then our main focus was the skating and being ready to train the next day.
“Quite often we get asked, ‘What’s the secret of your friendship, relationship?’… we never got married,” she continued, with Dean adding: “Don’t sleep with each other.”
On how they kept their relationship platonic, Torvill explained: “We knew that turning professional, you know, the show’s got your name on it. But if you’re doing a professional show, there’s no messing about because you can’t be silly and, I don’t know, you know, go off and get married in the middle of a season of a show or have an affair with somebody.
“Because, like Chris said, you’ve got to stay focused on what you’re doing because the next day you’ve got to be ready to do a performance.”
