Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have revealed details about their first kiss, after exiting ITV's Dancing on Ice.
The iconic ice-skating duo, who have remained close friends for decades, opened up about a brief teenage romance.
Christopher confessed previously to Piers Morgan in 2013 that they had "dabbled" romantically when they were young. He described their kiss as a casual moment on a team trip.
Christopher said: "We were kids. It was before we were skating partners."
He explained further: "The team would go to competitions at different rinks. It was a back-of-the-bus kiss on one of those coach trips."
Jayne laughed as she recalled the kiss, saying it happened long before they began skating as a professional duo.
She explained: "Later, when I was about 14 and still not into boys much, my coach said, 'Whatever you do, don’t date your skating partner because if you fall out he won’t want to skate with you.' That always stuck in my mind."
Friendship before romance
© ITVJayne said they never seriously considered having a romantic relationship as adults. She explained they saw other skating couples marry and later split, which could have ended their careers.
She added: "We’d see Russian couples get married because it gave them more stability with the regime—it gave them a car, an apartment—but then they’d split up and not skate anymore."
She continued: "Having a relationship just didn’t occur to us—we were more interested in skating, that was our passion. It sounds really boring but we’d train in the evening and go home."
Jayne joked their decision was key to their long-lasting friendship, saying: "It’s because we didn’t get married."
Life beyond the ice
© ShutterstockBoth skaters went on to have separate relationships and marriages.
Jayne married American sound engineer Phil Christensen in 1990. They live in East Sussex and adopted two children, Kieran and Jessica after a year of unsuccessful IVF treatment.
Christopher has been married twice, both times to fellow skaters. His first marriage, to French-Canadian skater Isabelle Duchesnay, lasted from 1991 to 1993.
He then married American skater Jill Trenary in 1994. The couple had two sons, Jack and Sam and raised them in Colorado Springs before divorcing in 2010.
For the past 14 years, Christopher has been in a relationship with Karen Barber head coach on ITV's Dancing on Ice. They now live in West Yorkshire.
He currently coaches at Ice Sheffield, describing the move as a return to his roots: "We all get a calling at some point to go back to our roots," he said.
Strong bond remains
© PA Images via Getty ImagesDespite their separate romantic lives, Jayne and Christopher remain extremely close.
Jayne said their bond took some time for her husband Phil to understand fully.
She explained: "At first Phil was like, 'Do you really have to spend all that time together all day?' But 30-odd years later, he gets it."
Jayne even revealed Phil often gets mistaken for Christopher in public. She said he rarely corrects people to spare them embarrassment.
Christopher’s first wife Isabelle previously admitted she was jealous of his closeness to Jayne.
After their split, Isabelle reportedly said: "I felt that he had two women in his life. Because his work was more important, that automatically made Jayne more important."
However, Christopher's current partner Karen sees Jayne as family. Karen once said that Jayne refers to her as "the sister she never had."
Keeping their friendship simple
© Getty ImagesDespite their closeness, Jayne and Christopher confirmed they don’t spend holidays together.
When asked if they take trips together, they immediately said: "No."
However, they admitted they speak almost daily, even about minor things.
Christopher joked about their casual chats, making a phone gesture: "Oh yes—'I’m off down to the shops again.'"
Both remain grateful their friendship has endured beyond the skating rink.
