The Untold Story of Torvill and Dean's Brief Romantic Moment
When discussing legendary Winter Olympians, the names Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean immediately come to mind. The iconic duo from Nottingham, celebrated as among the greatest ice dancers in history, have accumulated British, European, Olympic, and world titles throughout their illustrious careers. They captured global admiration with their gold medal performance at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, delivering a routine that became one of the most-watched television events in United Kingdom history.
Having skated together since the 1970s, they retired from professional competition in 1998 and transitioned into coaching roles. Later, they became judges on the popular ITV programme Dancing on Ice, marking five decades of collaboration. Now, the true nature of their relationship away from the rink has come to light, including a surprising admission about briefly crossing romantic boundaries.
The Teenage Kiss That Never Developed
Although Torvill and Dean have never officially dated, they have confessed to sharing a single kiss as teenagers back in 1975. "We were in the back of the bus going to a league match, and it just happened. It was a one-off. We never talked about it afterwards. We laugh about it now," Torvill revealed during an interview with Radio Times.
In a 2013 conversation with Piers Morgan, Dean provided additional context about their brief romantic experimentation during a team excursion. "We were kids," he explained. "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 clarified that the kiss occurred prior to their partnership as a skating duo, noting: "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."
Why Romance Never Blossomed Between the Skating Icons
During an appearance on the High Performance Podcast, the pair were questioned again about whether their relationship had ever "crossed the line." Dean responded candidly: "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."
Despite their undeniable chemistry both on and off the ice, which has led many to assume they were romantically involved, their dedication to skating and pursuit of excellence prevented them from pursuing a relationship. They have maintained this principle steadfastly since their teenage encounter.
"We got close but at some point realised that we weren't going to make a relationship off the ice in terms of a romantic one," Dean once elaborated. "We had seen a lot of partnerships fail. It was a conscious decision. The skating was everything and having a relationship just didn't occur to us."
Torvill offered her perspective, stating: "[The kiss] 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."
Maintaining a Platonic Partnership for Professional Success
Torvill further explained their approach to preserving their working relationship: "Quite often we get asked, 'What's the secret of your friendship, relationship...?' We never got married," she continued, with Dean humorously adding: "Don't sleep with each other!"
On how they managed to keep their connection strictly platonic, Torvill detailed: "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."
Their Separate Personal Lives and Families
Both skaters have established their own families and lead independent lives away from the ice. Torvill has been married to Phil Christensen, an American sound engineer, for over thirty years since September 21, 1990. The couple have two adopted children, Kieran and Jessica. She has openly discussed her fertility challenges, including an ectopic pregnancy and the emotional strain of year-long IVF treatment.
Dean has experienced two marriages: first to French-Canadian skater Isabelle Duchesnay from 1991 to 1993, and subsequently to American skater Jill Trenary. He and Trenary share two sons, Jack and Sam, though their sixteen-year marriage concluded in 2010.
Since 2011, Christopher has been in a relationship with British ice dancer Karen Barber. Following media speculation about their romance, they issued a joint statement confirming: "We have been great friends for more than 30 years. Following recent media speculation, we feel the necessity to confirm that this year has seen a change in our relationship, but we are taking things very slowly as it is early days."
Dean has acknowledged that his partnership with Torvill impacted his romantic relationships, revealing that Duchesnay once remarked, "There were three people in our marriage." Torvill similarly recalled that her husband "has been called Chris quite a few times. He looks nothing like Chris. He often just goes with it rather than correcting them."
