Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the iconic British ice dancing duo, have announced that they will perform for the last time on live television during the upcoming series of Dancing on Ice. The Olympic gold medallists, who have a storied history of 16 gold medals from World, European, and British Figure Skating Championships, retired from competitive skating in 1998.
Their unforgettable gold medal performance at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics to Maurice Ravel’s Bolero was watched by 24 million people, making it one of the most iconic moments in British television history. Although Torvill and Dean have been regular performers on Dancing on Ice since its inception in 2006, they have decided that this year will mark their final appearance.
Christopher, aged 66, confirmed their decision, announcing: “This will be our last live skate – here on Dancing on Ice.” He added that their farewell tour this year will also be their swansong, reports the Mirror.
“We’re doing our last tour this year as well so once we’ve finished our last skate on tour, we won’t be performing again. There are lots of endings,” he said.
He further expressed his readiness to conclude the skating journey with Jayne, 67, after more than fifty years on the ice.
“We’ve been doing it a long time and people our age shouldn’t be doing it now,” he remarked. “So we’re just happy that we can still do it.”
Jayne and Christopher have announced they will no longer be performing on Dancing on Ice but will maintain their roles as judges, joining Diversity’s Ashley Banjo and former Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse on the panel.
“Dancing on Ice feels like our baby because we were approached by ITV in the early days and we came up with this format together of how it might work,” Jayne shared.
“We didn’t know much about TV but they didn’t know how skating works so together, the programme developed and it’s great that we were there from the beginning.”
Christopher has also divulged his plans to take up a new pastime after retiring from skating, inspired by none other than David Beckham.
“I’ve taken up beekeeping. It sounds like a good thing to do,” he expressed. “It just sounds so idyllic. It’s outdoors, it’s gentle.”
The latest series of Dancing on Ice, presented by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern, features celebrities such as EastEnders’ Charlie Brooks, footballer Anton Ferdinand, The Traitors’ Mollie Pearce, broadcaster Michaela Strachan, and Olympic rower Steve Redgrave.
Jayne and Christopher have noted that the standard of skating is particularly high this season, with Coronation Street’s Sam Aston standing out as a natural on the ice.
“Sam has taken to it quite naturally,” Chris observed, while Jayne also praised Anton’s approach, attributing his positive attitude to his sports background as she added: “I was impressed by Anton as well. I like his attitude because of his football background.”
Dancing on Ice returns on Sunday at 6:30pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.