Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean broke their silence by retiring from ice skating on Wednesday morning.
Jayne, 66, and Christopher, 65, skated to victory at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics on Valentine’s Day 1984, winning the gold medal and earning the highest score ever in a single performance.
The British skating duo will embark on one final UK tour next year, which will be their swan song and mark 50 years since they formed their skating partnership in 1975, before officially hanging up their skates.
The Wednesdays Good Morning Britain hosts Ed Balls and Charlotte Hawkins spoke to the couple in their first interview since announcing their retirement.
Live from Sarajevo, where the pair skated to Olympic gold, the iconic duo joined GMB from where it all began to discuss their final farewell tour.
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean broke their silence on their retirement from ice skating on Wednesday morning (seen at a press conference in Sarajevo to announce their retirement)
Jayne, 66, and Christopher, 65, skated to victory at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics on Valentine’s Day 1984, winning the gold medal and earning the highest score ever in a single performance.
On why the duo felt now was the right time, Chris said: “Gosh, well, 40 years ago is a long time.” In fact, next year, in 2025, we have been skating together for 50 years and we felt that it was a very nice round number to say ‘we had a great time but it’s time to retire a little and hang up our skates’. .
“No more tours except the last one we hope to do next year.”
Jayne added: “We feel it will be the last tour, but it will be a celebration of everything we have been through since 1984, winning the Olympics, which opened the door to many other things in the future.”
Upon returning to Sarajevo, Chris said: “It’s great to be here in Sarajevo, where it all started for us.”
He continued: ‘It’s quite emotional and nostalgic at the same time. We returned to the Zetra Stadium where we actually performed and stood at the spot where we knelt to begin the Bolero routine and I felt a tingle on the back of my neck being there again.
Speaking about whether they knew 40 years ago what a big moment it was, Jayne said: “No, I don’t think we would have imagined it.” Before the Olympics, we were focused and in the zone.
‘We hadn’t even thought about what was happening beyond that moment. We were so ready to do the performance and we hoped everything would go well and we were so relieved to get to the end and that we couldn’t have skated it better because we worked so hard to get to that moment. ‘
Making the announcement Tuesday, Chris said the couple had agreed it was the “right time” to stop skating because they “are no longer spring chicks” and want to get away while they can still do it “to some extent.” .’
On Wednesday’s Good Morning Britain, presenters Ed Balls and Charlotte Hawkins spoke to the couple in their first interview since announcing their retirement.
Live from Sarajevo, where the pair skated to Olympic gold, the iconic duo joined GMB from where it all started to discuss their final farewell tour.
The British skating duo will embark on one final UK tour next year, which will be their farewell song and mark 50 years since they formed their skating partnership in 1975, before officially hanging up their skates.
Jayne wore a smart blue suit to the press conference as they visited Bosnia and Herzegovina to mark the 40th anniversary of winning gold medals at the 1984 Winter Olympics.
The pair became international stars after receiving 12 perfect 6s while skating with Maurice Ravel’s Boléro at the Zetra Olympic Hall in Sarajevo, prompting a standing ovation.
It was watched on television by 24 million people in the UK and a month later they scored even better at the World Championships.
Their farewell tour, Torvill and Dean: Our Last Dance, will run from April 12 to May 11, 2025 with dates in London, Belfast, Newcastle and Glasgow.
“I think there comes a time when you know,” Chris said.
“We’re not spring chicks anymore, but we can still do it to a certain extent and we feel good, but that will go away.”
“So, I think this is the right time for us to do that and go skating and do some of the old routines, be very nostalgic, but then do some fun, upbeat new dances with friends of ours from the skating world and from Dancing On Ice.
He said they view the tour as a “celebration,” but predicts they’ll be excited for their final skate the closer it gets.
“I think we will also be proud of what we have done and can still do over the years, bringing competitive skating and competitions and then entertainment through the television screen,” he said.
“I think we’re going to reflect and look at it not in a sad way but in a happy way.”
Following the end of their competitive career, Torvill and Dean began training and choreographing and toured regularly, before becoming the faces of the ITV reality show Dancing on Ice in 2006.
The show went on hiatus in 2014 and when it was revived in 2018 they returned as head judges. He will air a special commemorative tribute to her gold medal-winning performance in 1984 during this Sunday’s episode.
“That was really a launching pad to then do other things,” he said of his beloved 1984 routine.
On why the duo felt now was the right time, Chris said: “Gosh, well, 40 years ago is a long time.” In fact, next year, in 2025, we’ll have been skating together for 50 years!’
Following the end of their competitive career, they began training and choreographing and touring regularly, before becoming the faces of the ITV reality show Dancing on Ice in 2006 (pictured).
The pair are pictured together at the 1994 British Championships in the middle of their competitive career.
“Traveling around the world, skating in front of hundreds of thousands of people, and then starting ice dancing because I won the Olympics.”
Of his latest final tour, Chris said on GMB: ‘The tour will be celebratory and nostalgic at the same time. You’ll see some old numbers we’ve done in the past and who knows, there might be a Bolero in there too.
‘But we want to bring our friends that we’ve met over the years onto the ice with us in a celebration of that last tour.
“It’s 50 years together, so we would like to thank everyone and if they want to come, come.”