‘We are honoured'

Head judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean tell TV Times about being the theme for this week’s Dancing on Ice

- STEVEN PERKINS

DANCING ON ICE SUNDAY / ITV / 6.30PM / EP 8 of 10 / ENTERTAINMENT

No one has a greater claim to the title of British sporting icons than Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

In celebration of their many achievements, this Sunday’s episode of ITV’s Dancing on Ice will see our remaining couples pay tribute to the Ice Panel’s head judges as the show takes ‘Torvill and Dean’ as its theme.

All the performances will be set to music that also provided the soundtrack to some of Jayne and Chris’ most memorable routines – not including the Boléro – as the stars and their professional partners do all they can to impress two of the country’s most venerated Olympians.

Here, in an exclusive interview, Jayne, 64, and Chris, 63, chat to TV Times about what to expect from this very special evening…

How did you react to the news that the show was planning a Torvill and Dean week?

JAYNE It’s the first time that we’ve done this! It was a discussion that came up before Christmas – we were talking about different themes and the producers asked us how we felt about it.

We were very honoured that we were going to have a whole week devoted to us, and the routines that we’ve done in the past.

CHRIS Initially, the plan was to go to Nottingham [Jayne and Chris met at the local ice rink in their home city] and put on the show within a theatre. However, because of the pandemic and all the theatres now opening back up again, they were all booked and we couldn’t get in! But maybe that’s something for the future…