Torvill and Dean bow out from performing with emotional final Dancing on Ice routine
10 March 2025, 11:59
The figure skating pair are retiring from the ice after 50 years of dancing together.
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Torvill and Dean performed their final televised figure skating routine during an emotional Dancing on Ice finale on Sunday night (March 9).
The famous figure skating couple took to the ice on TV for one last time, 50 years after they first performed together.
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Dancing on Ice host Holly Willoughby introduced yesterday’s performance as “television history," explaining how it was set to be the pair’s “last ever TV performance.”
Speaking on the show, a tearful Christopher Dean, 66, shared: “It is very emotional for us. It's been a fantastic ride. We've been here 17 series, something like over 80 performances, but last one tonight.”
Jayne Torvill, 67, added that the pair had worked together to choreograph “something really special” for their final televised routine together, which was danced to Lighthouse Family’s 1995 hit ‘Lifted’.
Torvill and Dean have been dancing on the ice together since 1975, and became national treasures after their gold medal-winning Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics performance.
That routine, choreographed to Maurice Ravel’s Boléro, made history when an audience of over 24 million people tuned in and made it one of the UK’s most watched television events for the time.
The iconic pair retired from competitive skating in 1998, but were coaxed out of retirement to appear on Dancing on Ice when it launched in 2006.
Torvill & Dean look back on their performances before their final skate on the show | Dancing On Ice
The professional couple went on to appear on every season of the show, at first acting as coaches and mentors for Dancing on Ice’s brave celebrity contestants, before they became judges in 2018.
During each season, the pair regularly treated Dancing on Ice audiences to performances in addition to giving their expert advice to contestants.
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Torvill and Dean’s final performance comes at a difficult time for the show, as rumours swirl about whether ITV are planning to axe it after nearly 20 years on TV.
A source recently told The Mirror that due to low audience numbers “there are very real fears” season 17 might have been the show’s last.
ITV responded to the rumour by saying the Dancing on Ice team were “fully concentrating” on the show’s finale, “and therefore no decision” had been made about the show’s future at that time.
Dancing on Ice season 17 was won by Coronation Street actor Sam Aston, who was paired with professional figure skater Molly Lanaghan.
Torvill and Dean will retire from performing at the conclusion of their Our Last Dance tour later this year.
