Torvill and Dean on their 50-year partnership: ‘It wasn’t an instant revelation, fate put us together’

TONIGHT’S Dancing On Ice final sees the moment millions have been waiting for – Torvill and Dean taking to the ice.

The duo made the switch from choreographing and performing to heading up the judging panel as the series returned to ITV after a four-year absence.

But as they prepared to get their skates on for the much-anticipated routine, the Olympic legends have told iN10 of the first time they skated together.

And how every time they skate together now is cherished.

“Being paired together was one of those ‘Sliding Doors’ moments. It could all have been very different,” recalls Chris, 59.

“We went to the same ice rink but had different partners.

“When my partner left, my coach said we should try skating together. So, fate put us together.”

Jayne’s recollection is equally clear.

“There were always more girls than boys, so I was waiting to be picked,” she laughs.

“That first session together was at 6am and neither of us were very bright and sparkly.

“It certainly wasn’t an instant revelation, but I think, inwardly, we were quite excited.”

That, remarkably, was almost half a century ago when Chris was 10 and Jayne 11.

What those first few tentative skates led to, of course, was that Bolero routine at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo in 1984.

More than 24 million of us tuned in, utterly captivated.

They were, Chris says, years ahead of schedule, having been fifth at the 1980 Olympics.

A bronze, not gold, was what they had in mind as they quit their jobs, he as a policeman and Jayne as an insurance book clerk.

They had saved enough money to keep going for six months when they took to the ice with the skate that proved to have the Midas touch.

“There are moments of the Bolero I remember,” says Chris.

“Sometimes a memory comes back when you see the video but it’s more just a collage of images in my head now as opposed to recalling every detail.”

Overnight, any expectations they had were swept away, overtaken by a grander wave of possibilities as they found themselves global superstars.

As two ordinary youngsters from Nottingham, they were mixing in the unlikeliest of company.

“We met the Queen when we got our MBE and at Garden Parties but then we were invited to one of her private lunches,” recalls Jayne.

“There were only 12 people around the table at Buckingham Palace.

“When the Queen came in, the corgis were running around under the table.

“There were butlers behind every person ready to serve.

“From our humble beginnings of coal miner’s son and newsagent’s daughter, it was hard to take in.”

The half century of friendship has formed an unshakeable bond and an almost telepathic understanding.

As they sit chatting, they instinctively know what the other is going to say, seamlessly finishing each other’s sentences.

Jayne lives in East Sussex, Chris is in Colorado but they are constantly in touch, naturally launching straight into whatever’s on their mind with no formalities or catch up needed.

Chris lives with former Dancing On Ice judge Karen Barber, whom he began dating after they worked on the show. Having been married twice, to French-Canadian skating champ Isabelle Duchesnay and American skater Jill Trenary, would a relationship with a non-skater be difficult?

“Yes, probably,” muses Chris. “This takes you away a lot. And the relationship between Jayne and me is very close.

“Looking from the outside, you have to understand our friendship. But Karen competed at the same time as us, so she knows us well.”

A teenage snog apart, Jayne and Chris have always just been good friends. Jayne has been married to husband Phil Christensen for more than quarter of a century and she says it’s simply funny that he has even been mistaken for Chris.

“It never irritates if people think we’re a couple,” insists Jayne.

“It’s like Fred and Ginger. We’re always together and people see us skating in a certain way, so maybe it’s a good thing that people think what we’re doing is believable.”

They are very much aware that they have skated far, far more than most other duos.

“The older we get, we appreciate it even more each time we skate,” says Chris. “It’s a finite thing and it is going to end.

“Most people would have stopped years ago – it’s only crazy people that would still be doing it.”

Chris admits he wakes up troubled by his knees each morning, and Jayne says their weary bodies have taken a pounding.

“A photographer asked Chris to go down on a knee for me to sit on and I thought, ‘Well, that’s not going to happen!’” she chuckles.

But there’s been a super Scot behind keeping Chris at least fit enough to continue to delight.

“Sharon Morrison from Aberdeen is the lady who keeps me physically put together,” confides Chris.

“She’s the best physio in the world. We were performing in the city and I had an injury.

“She did such a great job she’s been with us for about 25 years now. We insisted she worked on Dancing On Ice and she looks after everybody.”

The ITV series finished as the couple marked the 30th anniversary of their Olympic triumph and it seemed, after nine years on air, it was a good time to call a halt. But a question at the Edinburgh Television Festival a couple of years ago helped bring it back to screen.

“ITV’s new boss, Kevin Lygo, loved the show and he was asked why it stopped,” says Jayne.

“He said he couldn’t understand it, as it was such a great show.

“That built momentum and when we were asked if we’d come back we were ready. We’d had a break and we missed it.”

Away from the show, Chris’s choreography is still much in demand.

And it’s that, not his glorious past, that has recently earned him some kudos with his sons Jack, 19, and Sam, 17.

“They don’t really say much about my skating but Sam was watching the pair skating at the Winter Olympics,” says Chris.

“The German pair won gold and he was telling his mum Jill how emotional it was.

“When she said, ‘Dad choreographed that’ he wrote me a lovely text telling me how impressed he was.”

Jayne’s kids Kieran, 15, and Jessica, 11, though skaters, similarly have no aspirations of doing anything on the ice, with football and gymnastics their respective passions.

But after tonight’s tense final, Jayne and Chris will still have plenty to do as the Dancing On Ice Tour hits the road with the impressive stars of this year’s show – and two-time winning champ Ray Quinn.

It includes four shows at the SSE Hydro from April 6 to 8.

“We love that and it’s going to be a real competition with this year’s winner facing a challenge from Ray,” adds Chris.

“It’s always brilliant to be back in front of big audiences.”

Dancing On Ice, ITV, tonight, 6pm. Tour tickets from dancingonicetour.co.uk