Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill say they’re finding their skating routines tougher these days

It’s a staggering thought but Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have just entered their 45th year of being Torvill and Dean. That’s one long-standing double act and a heck of a lot of skating.

“We have been together a long time. We must have one of the longest partnerships in comedy, business… We have gone many thousands of miles on ice. We have probably been round the world a couple of times,” Chris, 59, ponders.

But nearly a half-century of skating means, unfortunately, one thing – tired bodies. Time has taken its toll, especially on Chris’s knees, which he now thinks have been struck with arthritis.

Ice skating stars wow the crowds to take home the gold at the 1984 Olympics(Image: Daily Mirror)

Last week, he and Jayne, 60 – who scooped Olympic gold with their Bolero routine in 1984 – were back on screen as judges on ITV’s Dancing on Ice .

They return after a four-year break, admitting that this week is the first time they’ve skated together since the show last aired. As they prepare for their upcoming Dancing on Ice tour, their bodies are a far cry from the Bolero days. Chris says: “The knees don’t bend quite as deeply as they used to. I think I have arthritis in my knees. I just manage it.

“I can still skate, paracetamol helps. I’m pretty reckless – I’ll deal with it later.”

Pair in their touring heyday(Image: Mirrorpix)

Janye adds: “We kind of joke about it but at the same time we want to do the best we can. There’s a lot of eye-rolling.

“My back does not arch as much, that’s the place that starts to hurt first with me.

“I don’t think I have arthritis yet but we have skated well into our 50s, which is unusual for any athlete.”

The easy to and fro between the pair is striking but not surprising. Their closeness means that, even now, they are often mistaken for a couple.

Jayne and husband Phil Christensen(Image: Victor Crawshaw/Daily Mirror)

But Chris lives in Colorado Springs, America, with former Dancing on Ice judge Karen Barber , who he began dating four years ago after they worked together on the show. And Jayne has been married to husband Phil Christensen for over 25 years, who she lives with in East Sussex.

Jayne laughs: “My husband Phil has been called Chris quite a few times. He looks nothing like Chris. He often just goes with it rather than correct them.”

Chris adds: “When we were young kids, we just did everything together to be able to do what we had to do competitively, so our life was very entwined.”

The duo insist, apart from a fleeting snog as teenagers in the back of a coach before they were partners, they have never been anything more than friends.

But they’re pretty close friends at that. “Almost every day or every other day we speak on the phone,” says Chris.

“Constantly… like we pick up the phone and have no introduction. It might be about the kids [or] what are you buying me for Christmas?” Janye chimes in: “He didn’t buy me anything.” And Chris responds: “Yes, but it’s in the works.”

Chris and partner Karen Barber(Image: Manchester Evening News)

They could go on and on. Jayne says: “We still have a great spark and chemistry and we enjoy each other’s company but we have other partners as well.”

Although the break from Dancing on Ice hasn’t meant a break from each other, it has been nice, they say, to have a hiatus from the show they helped developed in 2006. Chris says it has been good for his relationship with Karen.

He has been married twice, first to French-Canadian skating champion Isabelle Duchesnay in the early 1990s, and then to American skater Jill Trenary , with whom he has teenage sons, Jack, 19 and Sam, 17.

Jayne, meanwhile, has two adopted children, Kieran, 15, and Jessica, 11.

With Jason Gardiner and Ashley Banjo on judging panel(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Chris got together with Karen four years ago, after he separated from Jill, and Karen split from her husband, Dancing On Ice trainer Stephen Pickavance, putting them in the spotlight. Chris says: “It’s been nice to be away from Dancing on Ice, it’s given us some breathing space.”

Now, Torvill and Dean are back as judges for first time, rather than mentors.

So far, they say there hasn’t been too much disagreement with their fellow judges Ashley Banjo and hard-to-please Jason Gardiner . Chris says: “But you know, it’s early days. I’m sure that will turn round at some point. Jason has some good… adjectives.”

At the 2017 launch of Dancing on Ice(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

So, when Torvill and Dean finally hang up their skates, will the next generation take over?

Chris laughs: “My boys…Too cold on an ice rink. My younger son has become quite academic now and would like to be a scientist.” Jayne says of her brood: “I wouldn’t have minded but they are madly into football.”

So, we’ll have to make the most of the originals – and best – while their knees and backs allow.

• Torvill and Dean’s Dancing on Ice Live UK Tour runs from March 23-April 15. To book tickets or for further information, visit www.dancingonicetour.co.uk .