Young Torvill and Dean admit their relationship ‘crossed a line’
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Torvill and Dean have revealed they did “cross a line” in their relationship when they were younger – but never slept together.
Jayne Torvill, 66, and Christopher Dean, 65, said they believed their “mutual friendship” and professionalism had allowed them to have such a long and sustained career.
However, the former world champion ice dancers who made their names when they won the gold medal performing to Ravel’s Boléro at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics have now revealed they were more than friends when they were younger, although they said “it didn’t last very long”.
The pair have previously admitted they once kissed, amid long-standing speculation as to the nature of their relationship.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, the pair were asked if their relationship had ever “crossed the line”.
In response, Dean said: “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 said: “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.”
Dean added: “Don’t sleep with each other.”
The duo were asked how they managed to keep their relationship platonic and professional.
Torvill said: “We knew that turning professional, you know, the show’s got your name on it.
“And then you actually get paid for doing what you love to do.
‘You can’t be silly and have an affair’
“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.”
The pair turned professional after their 1984 Olympic performance and went on to compete in the 1994 games, where they won bronze.
They branched out into touring, coaching and choreographing before becoming the faces of ITV’s Dancing On Ice, which ran from 2006 until 2014, later becoming head judges on the show when it was revived in 2018.
In 2020, an ITV documentary saw the duo sent to Alaska to investigate climate change.
They have now announced plans to retire from skating together in 2025.
