Torvill & Dean prove they've still got it with stunning Sarajevo performance

In 1998, some fourteen years after they’d won Olympic gold, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean hung up their skates. At 39 years old, their time on the professional circuit had come to an end and they thought the days of slaloming around the ice in front of thousands were over.

But a quarter of a century on, now in their mid-sixties, they go on. The production team at Dancing on Ice came knocking in 2006 and the opportunity was too good to turn down.

And on Thursday night – February 15, 2024 – as honorary guests at a local ice skating competition in their adopted city of Sarajevo, they pulled stunts of an audacity that one wouldn’t even expect of someone twenty years their junior.

At 66 and 65, anyone would have thought Torvill & Dean would be well past gravity-defying, pulse-racing moves. In fact, most people of their age are long past days of vigorous exercise. But not these two.

Yes, they have announced their retirement – the time is right, says Chris, as the pair approach fifty years of knowing each other – but if this display was anything to go by, their 2025 farewell tour will be no inferior to performances of yesteryear.

Ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean recreate their ‘Bolero Moment’ on the ice at the Center Skenderija, Sarajevo with smiles on their faces as Torvill lifts Dean during a spin move

Limbering up beside the ice and flanked by a number of ice-skating Bosnian schoolchildren – many of whom undoubtedly dream of replicating the sort of success the Brits achieved in their career – the duo looked a picture of calmness as they prepared to serenade the crowd through their dance. On a screen beside the rink, their breathtaking 1984 Bolero performance was played.

As Torvill looked around, Dean tapped his feet in anticipation of their imminent performance. Both allowed the subtlest of smiles to creep onto their faces as they watched.

Then, Torvill clad in black and Dean in a dark green suit, they made their way onto the ice. Flowers were presented by the Mayor of Sarajevo and Christopher spoke to the crowd.

As the talking subdued, they took centre stage. Youngsters surrounding, the pair softly held hands as they turned to face one another.

“We still love it,” said Jayne of skating last week. They even went as far as to hint that they’d still meet up for a leisurely skate once their days of performing in front of a crowd come to an end next year.

And that much was evident. Slaloming around the ice with much of the same air and grace that won the hearts of millions all those years before, the pair wore beaming smiles.

Perfectly in tandem, and with the Bolero’s beating drums reverberating around the Skenderija centre, there were lifts, spins, turns and pirouettes. In the space of four minutes, the crowd of locals and press were blown away by the apparently timeless beauty of their skills.

There were open mouths as at one point, Dean held Torvill by the legs and, with her head facing the ground, spun her around.

As the display rounded off, applause rang around the room and echoed off the wooden walls. Dean even planted a kiss on the cheek of his lifelong partner in true romantic style.

Afterwards, as they stepped back onto solid ground, the children, so gracious and grateful, thanked them in awe. “You were great,” said one.

Fans gathered in numbers to ask for autographs and photographs as their two-day visit came to an end. Torvill and Dean smiled wholeheartedly with every request. And then, for this celebration, the curtain closed.

The next – their last – starts next year. “Our Last Dance” comes to Nottingham on April 24 and 25. ‘Torvill & Dean: Our Last Dance’ UK Tour Nottingham tickets can be purchased here with the full tour dates from April 12 to May 11, 2025 are listed below:

Torvill and Dean ‘Our Last Dance’ farewell tour dates

LONDON – OVO Arena Wembley – April 12-13

BELFAST – SSE Arena – April 15-16

SHEFFIELD – Utilita Arena – April 19-20

NOTTINGHAM – Motorpoint Arena – April 23-24

BIRMINGHAM – Resorts World Arena – April 25-27

NEWCASTLE – Utilita Arena – April 30-May 1

MANCHESTER – AO Arena – May 2-4

LIVERPOOL – M&S Bank Arena – May 8-9

GLASGOW – OVO Hydro Glasgow – May 10-11

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