Two Olympic champions and Dancing on Ice stars are reportedly in line for a damehood and knighthood.
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won gold for skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics before being catapulted to fame on ITV’s competition.
Following their knighthood and damehood petitions being rejected in 2023, several people have launched campaigns in their favour after they were appointed MBEs in 1981 and OBEs in 2000.
Now, however, nearly 50 years on from their gold medal success, the Olympic champions are now believed to be receiving the accolade in the King’s New Years Honours, according to the Sun.
The skating pair, who are often referred to by their surnames as Torvill and Dean, began their career when skating coach Janet Sawbridge put them together in 1975.
They won their first trophy together in 1976 before changing coaches to Betty Callaway in 1979. The following year they made their debut at their first Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, finishing in fifth place.
After the competition, Jayne gave up her job as an insurance book clerk while Christopher quit his job as a policeman so they could focus on skating full-time.
With their full concentration on skating, they impressively never took lower than a gold in any competition, until the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer where they finished as bronze medallists.
Although the pair initially retired in 1998, they came out of it for Dancing On Ice eight years later.
Last year, the pair confirmed they have ‘no plans’ to step back from the show, which they judge alongside Oti Mabuse and Ashley Banjo, after they confirmed their retirement from skating.
In a joint statement shared to the PA news agency, they said: ‘Our 2025 “retirement” – which will follow our UK tour – will purely be from ice skating.
‘As we said in Sarajevo earlier this week, we will continue to work together away from the ice.
‘We have no plans to step back from Dancing On Ice and hope that the series continues for years to come.’
To share the news of their retirement, Jayne, 66, and Christopher, 65, returned to Sarajevo – the place they took gold in 1984 with their famous Bolero.
‘It’s been 50 years and the body won’t allow us to keep doing it too much. We felt there was one tour left in us where we can go out and be nostalgic,’ explained Christopher.
Jayne added to The Sun: ’We’re lucky we can still perform to a level we’re happy with, considering our age and how many years we’ve put our bodies through training.’
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