Jayne Torvill's Biography

Jayne Torvill was born on October 7 1957 in Nottingham.

Her father worked at Raleigh bicycles and her mother was a machinist before they owned a sweet shop.

Before taking up ice skating professionally, Jayne Torvill was an insurance clerk.

Jayne Torvill started ice skating at an early age and in 1971 she and Michael Hutchenson became British National Pairs Champions.

Jayne, married sound engineer, Philip Lee Christensen in 1990 and her recreations include looking after her dogs, Freddy and Louis.

They have two adopted children, Kieran and Jessica.

In 1975, Torvill and Dean, who are the experts on ITV's Dancing On Ice, became a skating pair for the first time, brought together by Janet Sawbridge.

In the 1984 Winter Olympics, Torvill and Dean caused a sensation with their wonderful ice dance to Ravel's Bolero. They were awarded an unprecedented nine perfect sixes for artistic impression and claimed gold.

After turning professional, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the world title four years in succession from 1981.

In 1994, Torvill and Dean returned as amateurs to the Olympics. An amazing 23 million TV viewers in the UK watched them gain bronze.

In 1998 Torvill and Dean announced their retirement and a year later they were awarded an OBE.

However, in 2024, they skated to Bolero for the 40th anniversary of their gold-medal performance.