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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Frances Kindon

Torvill and Dean's relationship history - kiss, vicious rows and '3 people in marriage'

With their intense on-ice passion and sensual performances, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have often set tongues wagging about the nature of their relationship.

For years, fans have asked if the iconic pair - who won gold at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics for their dance to Ravel's Boléro - were ever more than friends.

And after taking home the gold, Chris, 64, only fuelled the fire when asked if they had any plans to tie the knot.

Jayne, 65, explained: "One journalist said, 'So, Chris, when are you getting married?’ and he said, 'Not yet!' And that was it – there were reports that we were going to get married. I thought, 'Oh no! Why did you say that?'"

However, the line between the two hasn't exactly been crystal clear.

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are incredibly close pals (ITV)
They have amazing chemistry on the ice (Getty Images)

Lust once spilled over into real life when they had a secret kiss on the back of a bus in 1975 - a kiss that was never spoken of again.

"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," explained Jayne in an interview with the Radio Times.

"We were 14-years-old, and teenagers in the most naive sense," Chris explained. "We didn't talk about it much after."

Clearly attracted to each other, there was a time when they did give serious thought to exploring their feelings further.

But ultimately, they made a 'conscious decision' to put their careers first.

"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," Chris said.

The pair shared a kiss when they were teenagers (Popperfoto/Getty Images)

"We had seen a lot of partnerships fail. The skating was everything and having a relationship just didn't occur to us."

They also endured heated rows on the rink, with Chris admitting he had a certain 'aggression and determination'.

One such argument ended with a devastated Jayne breaking down in tears and storming off the rink.

"You had an argument with me. I can't remember what it was about, but I know I went off in tears," she recalled.

Admitting he had unleashed the 'F word', Chris conceded: "And after that I was the baddie."

He told the Radio Times: "We've fallen out lots of times, but not to the extent that we've ever stopped talking.

"Jayne can deal with just about anything. I'm a bit more passionate and have - well, used to have - this aggression and determination.

"I've definitely become more mellow."

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

So where does their relationship sit on the spectrum?

They are incredibly close friends and speak on the phone almost every or every other day.

And according to Chris, it occupies a space somewhere between siblings and spouses.

"It shows what a unique relationship it is. It's not brother and sister, it's not husband and wife. There's nothing else like it," he added.

While Jayne agreed: "We still have a great spark and chemistry and we enjoy each other's company but we have other partners as well."

Jayne married sound engineer Phil Christensen back in 1990 and they adopted two children after struggling to conceive naturally.

The skating legend explained that starting a family was harder for her than Chris because she would have been forced to stop skating for a long period of time.

"As a couple skating together it's easy for the guy to go off and start a family, it wouldn't affect his skating, whereas for me it would have stopped what we were doing," she told The Sun. "So I left it quite late. And I was into my forties by then."

Chris started a relationship with judge Karen (PA)
Jayne Torvill with Christopher Dean and his partner, Karen Barber (Manchester Evening News)

While Jayne has been happily married for over 30 years, it's a different story for Chris who has been married twice.

His first marriage was to French-Canadian World ice dance champion Isabelle Duchesnay, who he met while helping her and her brother with their choreography, between 1991 and 1993.

Dean has admitted that his relationship with Torvill did impact his romantic life, revealing that Duchesnay used to say "there were three people in our marriage".

Following their divorce after just two years of wedlock, he fell for American skater Jill Trenary and they tied the knot in October 1994.

The couple lived in Colarado Springs and had two sons together, Jack Robert and Sam Colin, but announced they were separating in March 2010.

A year later came the surprise announcement that Chris was in a relationship with former Dancing on Ice judge Karen Barber, who had been his friend for three decades.

Karen Barber and Christopher Dean are still together (Getty)

News of their romance broke just months after the breakdown of her marriage to skating coach Stephen Pickavance, who is the father of her daughters Emma and Laura, after 21 years together.

After being snapped kissing outside a London restaurant in January 2011, the couple released a joint statement to confirm their relationship status.

It read: "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.

"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."

While many saw it as big news, Karen felt her relationship with Chris should not have been such a major talking point as they were both single when they got together.

In 2013, she told The Mirror: "It was hardly a scandal, was it? We were both separated and middle-aged, and got together after knowing each other for 30 years."

Karen admitted that it was actually speculation about their relationship status in the media that opened up a conversation between them which they had never had before.

She explained: "Then as we talked it was 'Well is this crazy or is there something we are ignoring?'

"That summer we kept in touch by text and email as we always had but then when we were apart I started wondering, 'Is it possible?' and realised my feelings were different.

"Then, when we were back together for the new series and both single, we could start talking and address those feelings."

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