When people think of ice dancing, Torvill and Dean are often the first names that spring to mind. The iconic duo, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, captured hearts worldwide with their gold medal win at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympic Games.
Despite their on-ice chemistry, many fans still believe they are a couple both on an off the rink. However, this is not the case.
Here is a look at Torvill and Dean’s respective love lives.
Have Torvill and Dean ever dated?
The duo shared a kiss as teenagers 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,” Jayne revealed to Radio Times.
Christopher also commented on the brief encounter: “We were 14-years-old, and teenagers in the most naive sense. We didn’t talk about it much after.”
Why haven’t Torvill and Dean dated?
Their commitment to ice skating and desire for success kept them from making things romantic. “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,” Christopher explained.
“We had seen a lot of partnerships fail. It was a conscious decision,” he continued. “The skating was everything and having a relationship just didn’t occur to us.”
Jayne Torvill’s husband
Jayne has been married to Phil Christensen, an American sound engineer, for over three decades since 21 September 1990. Over the years, she has shared the highs and lows of their journey, including the adoption of their two children, son Kieran and daughter Jessica.
She’s candidly spoken about her struggles with fertility, revealing her experience with an ectopic pregnancy and the emotional toll of a year-long IVF treatment.
On Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, Jayne detailed the challenges of trying to start a family with a professional skating career: “As a couple skating together, it’s easy for the guy to go off and start a family because it wouldn’t affect his skating,” she explained. “Whereas for me, it would have stopped what we were doing, so I left it quite late and I was into my forties by then.”
The Olympic champion then went on to describe the moment she learned about her ectopic pregnancy: “I got pregnant quite quickly and I thought, ‘Oh this is fine’. And when I went to have a scan they said I had an ectopic pregnancy, and I didn’t know what that meant.”
She was told: “The embryo’s growing in one of the tubes”, leaving her stunned at the reality of her situation. “That’s when it hit me. So I went through the surgery and then it was obvious it was going to be more difficult.”
Jayne continued: “So we tried IVF for about a year. That, as a lot of women know, is traumatic in itself.”
Christopher Dean’s relationship
Christopher has been married twice and is now in a long-term relationship.
The Dancing On Ice judge was married to French-Canadian World ice dance champion Isabelle Duchesnay between 1991 and 1993.
The former couple met while he was choreographing for her and her brother Paul Duchesnay in the late 1980s.
Christopher went on to marry American skater Jill Trenary on 15 October 1994 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
They lived together in Colorado Springs and welcomed two sons – Jack Robert and Sam Colin.
However, the pair separated, with his agent confirming the news in March 2010.
Since 2011, Christopher has been in a relationship with British ice dancer Karen Barber. After rumours swirled about their romance , they decided to address the rumours head-on.
In a shared statement back in 2011, the couple revealed: “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.”
They also expressed their gratitude, adding: “We’d very much like to thank our dear friends, who have been so incredibly supportive to us. We both have families with children, so we ask the media to please respect their privacy.”
