Dean says final performance with Torvill ‘almost felt like the Olympics again’

Christopher Dean has said his last performance with skating partner Jayne Torvill “almost felt like the Olympics again”, as the pair reflected on finishing their career on a high.

The duo, who took home the Olympic gold at the 1984 Winter Games, announced their retirement from skating together in 2024.

In July this year, the pair finished their farewell tour Torvill And Dean: Our Last Dance, with a final performance in their home city of Nottingham to mark the end at where it all began.

The duo’s fly-on-the-wall documentary, Torvill And Dean: The Last Dance, will air later this month and will follow them through their final year as performers.

Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain about their final performance after almost 50 years on the ice together, Torvill, 68, said: “It was a big moment but we just got back into that zone.

“As soon as we stepped out on the ice, we were focused on doing skating well and doing a good job for our last performance.”

The pair performed a routine to Ravel’s Bolero – the same piece that won them the gold medal at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics.

Dean, 67, said: “The minute you skated out, the audience were with you. It was huge.”

“It almost felt like the Olympics again.

“It was that moment that was so defining and so special.”

Reflecting on their decision to retire, Torvill told presenters: “We wanted to finish on a high while we still could.”

Dean added: “The skates are literally being hung up.”

Torvill and Dean also reflected on their upcoming one-hour documentary.

Dean said: “It does capture that fly-on-the-wall behind-the-scenes of what goes on, the ups and downs, and ultimately the final performance.

“And that will be the last time you see us skate.”

Torvill promised they would be working on other projects, including talks and appearances together.

As well as Olympic gold in Sarajevo, the pair also had success at the World, European and British Championships and returned to the Winter Games at Lillehammer in Norway in 1994 where they won bronze.

After retiring from competitive skating, the pair began touring, coaching and choreographing before becoming the faces of celebrity competition show Dancing On Ice, which ran from 2006 until 2014.

When the show was revived in 2018, they became head judges until earlier this year when ITV announced it would be rested.

Torvill & Dean: The Last Dance will be available to watch on December 28 on ITV1 and ITVX.