| Christopher Dean OBE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Dean on the Dancing on Ice tour in Manchester, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Christopher Colin Dean 27 July 1958 Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Great Britain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1984, 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill. They also won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Dean grew up in Calverton, Nottinghamshire. When he was six, his mother left and his father remarried. Dean never talked about this with his father or stepmother, both of whom have died. He has regained contact with his mother. [2]
From 1974 to 1980, he was a police constable with Nottinghamshire Police.
Dean began to skate at the age of 10 after he received a pair of skates as a Christmas present. His parents were keen ballroom dancers. At school he was captain of the football team and he saw ice skating as a sport that was athletic and graceful. Dean's first ice partner was Sandra Elson. They began skating together when he was 14 and competed as ice dancers for a few years under their instructor Len Sayward. However, despite becoming British Junior Dance champions, the team parted, as Dean and Elson did not get along well. Dean then agreed to practise with Jayne Torvill, another skater at the Nottingham rink. The pair were first coached by Janet Sawbridge but in 1978 Betty Callaway became their coach.
Dean left school at age 16 and joined the Nottingham Police Force in 1974. It was challenging for him to undergo police cadet training, as his schedule often clashed with his skating training sessions. Thus Torvill and Dean had to practise during his off-hours. These difficult times brought them closer and gave them a sense of discipline that was to prove vital throughout their career.[ citation needed ]
By 1980, Torvill and Dean had progressed to not only become British National Dance Champions but were in medal contention in international competitions as well. It was then that Dean made the decision that he could no longer balance his skating and police careers so he resigned from the police force. Torvill left her job soon after; this was made possible with a Nottingham City Council grant of £42,000.[ citation needed ]
Dean also served as the chief choreographer for the Torvill and Dean team.
Torvill and Dean's free programme at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, performed to the music of Maurice Ravel's Boléro , became world-famous. They received nine 6.0 marks for artistic impression, (three more for technical merit for a total of twelve 6.0 marks) the highest possible score and the only time ever that an all-perfect score was achieved. It was one of the most popular achievements in the history of British sport, watched by a British television audience of 24 million people. [3] [4] Since the time limit was four minutes and ten seconds and their music was four minutes 28 seconds, they began on their knees and moved their bodies to the music for 18 seconds before starting to skate. [5] [6]
Torvill and Dean turned professional after their 1984 Olympic win. Under then existing Olympic Games rules as professionals they became ineligible to participate in Olympic competition. In 1993 the International Skating Union relaxed the rules for professional skaters, allowing the pair to participate in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer where they won a bronze medal.
Torvill and Dean were admitted to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1989.
From January 2006–2023, Torvill and Dean have participated in the ITV show Dancing on Ice . Each season, the televised show runs from January to March with Torvill and Dean as "judges". [7] [8] [9] The show then migrates to go on tour to arenas across the United Kingdom. The show is scheduled to return in 2024.
In January 2012, Dean said he was open to working with the National Ice Skating Association to help British competitive skating. [10] Torvill and Dean were ambassadors for the 2012 European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England. [10] In February 2014, they visited Sarajevo for the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Olympics, and recreated their Bolero routine in the same arena where they won the gold. [11]
In 2018, Dean choreographed the free programme of Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot, who won the gold medal in Pair skating with a world record at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
| Event | 75–76 | 76–77 | 77–78 | 78–79 | 79–80 | 80–81 | 81–82 | 82–83 | 83–84 | 93–94 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympics | 5th | 1st | 3rd | |||||||
| Worlds | 11th | 8th | 4th | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||
| Europeans | 9th | 6th | 4th | 1st | 1st | WD | 1st | 1st | ||
| British Championships | 4th | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |
| NHK Trophy | 2nd | |||||||||
| St Ivel International | 1st | 1st | ||||||||
| Oberstdorf | 2nd | 1st | ||||||||
| St Gervais | 1st | |||||||||
| Morzine Trophy | 2nd | |||||||||
| John Davis Trophy | 1st | |||||||||
| Sheffield Trophy | 1st | |||||||||
| Rotary Watches Competition | 2nd | |||||||||
| Northern Championships | 1st | |||||||||
| WD: Withdrew | ||||||||||
| Event | 1984 | 1985 | 1990 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Professional Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | |
| Challenge of Champions | 1st | 1st | 1st | |||
| World Team Championship | 3rd | 1st | 1st |
| 1984 | 1985 | 1990 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Professional Championships | Song of India, Encounter | Diablo Tango, Venus | Oscar Tango, Revolution / Imagine | Encounter | Still Crazy After All These Years, Cecilia | Take Five, Hat Trick |
| Challenge of Champions | Echoes of Ireland | Still Crazy After All These Years, Cecilia | Take Five, Hat Trick | |||
| World Team Championships | Let's Face the Music, Encounter | Bridge Over Troubled Water, Cecilia | Sarabande, Hat Trick |
| OSP/ORD | Free Dance | Exhibitions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | The Great Waldo Pepper | ||
| 1979 | Masquerade | Slaughter on Tenth Avenue [12] | Evergreen [13] |
| 1980 | A Little Street in Singapore | Sing Sing Sing etc. [14] | Puttin' On the Ritz |
| 1981 | Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White) | Fame etc. [15] | History of Love (version 1) [16] |
| 1982 | Summertime [17] | Mack and Mabel [18] | The Hop, Kiss Me Kate, Fast Tap |
| 1983 | Rock n Roll | Barnum [19] | Putting on the Ritz |
| 1984 | Capriccio Espagnol, Rimsky Korsakov | Boléro [20] | I Won't Send Roses [21] |
| 1994 | History of Love (version 2) [22] | Let's Face the Music [23] | Boléro [20] |
On 28 April 1983, Dean was appointed Honorary Freeman of the City of Nottingham. Dean was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1999.
Between 1991 and 1993, Dean was married to French-Canadian World ice dance champion Isabelle Duchesnay whom he met while choreographing for her and her brother Paul Duchesnay in the late 1980s.
On 15 October 1994, Dean married American skater Jill Trenary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They had two sons, Jack Robert and Sam Colin, and lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Dean's agent confirmed in March 2010 that the couple had separated. He and Trenary remain on good terms. [24]
He has been in a relationship with Karen Barber since 2011. [25]
Dean also remained close friends with partner Jayne Torvill. [26]
In 2021, Dean took part in an episode of DNA Journey to trace his family roots. He also appeared on The Masked Dancer as Beagle, where he was the fifth celebrity to be unmasked. [27]
Dean was portrayed by Will Tudor in the 2018 ITV biopic Torvill & Dean .
Ice dance is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. According to the International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of figure skating, an ice dance team consists of one woman and one man.
Jayne Torvill, OBE is a British professional ice dancer and former competitor. With Christopher Dean, she won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics, becoming one of the oldest figure skating Olympic medalists.
Torvill and Dean are British ice dancers and former British, European, Olympic, and World champions.
The National Ice Centre (NIC) is located in Nottingham, England. It is situated just east of the city centre, close to the historic Lace Market area. The NIC was the first twin Olympic-sized ice pad facility in the UK, "heralding a new era in the development of ice skating". Incorporating the Nottingham Arena, the NIC is a combined live entertainment and leisure venue.
Figure skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics took place at the Zetra Olympic Hall in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won gold for Great Britain, receiving twelve perfect scores (6.0), in the free dance segment of the ice dance competition, a feat that was never matched. They received the most maximum 6.0 marks of any figure skaters at the Olympics.
Maya Valentinovna Usova is a Russian former ice dancer. With Alexander Zhulin, she is a two-time Olympic medalist, the 1993 World champion, and the 1993 European champion. They also won gold medals at Skate America, NHK Trophy, Nations Cup, and Winter Universiade. They represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia.
Dancing on Ice is a British television series currently presented by Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby. Former hosts include Phillip Schofield, who hosted from 2006 to 2023, and Christine Lampard, who hosted in Willoughby's absence from 2012 to 2014. The series features celebrities and their professional partners figure skating in front of a panel of judges. The series, broadcast on ITV, started on 14 January 2006 and initially ended on 9 March 2014.
Margarita Aleksandrovna Drobiazko is a Russian retired ice dancer. She began competing for Lithuania in 1992 when she teamed up with Povilas Vanagas. With Vanagas, she is the 2000 World bronze medalist, a three-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, a two-time European bronze medalist, the 1999 Skate Canada champion, and competed in five Winter Olympics, finishing as high as 5th.
Povilas Vanagas is a Lithuanian ice dancer. With his wife Margarita Drobiazko, he is the 2000 World bronze medalist, a three-time Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, a two-time European bronze medalist, the 1999 Skate Canada champion, and competed in five Winter Olympics, finishing as high as 5th.
Sinead Houston Kerr is a Scottish former competitive ice dancer who represented Great Britain. She teamed up with her brother John Kerr in 2000. They are two-time European bronze medalists and the 2004–2010 British national champions. They placed 10th at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and 8th at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
John Alastair Kerr is a Scottish former competitive ice dancer who represented Great Britain with his sister Sinead Kerr. Together, they are two-time European bronze medalists and the 2004–2010 British national champions.
Marika Humphreys-Baranova OLY is a British Ice Dance Coach, Choreographer, retired ISU Technical Specialist & Moderator, former competitor & British Winter Olympian.
Georgi "Gorsha" Sur is a former ice dancer who represented the United States and the Soviet Union. With Svetlana Liapina for the Soviet Union, he is a two-time World Junior medalist. With Renée Roca for the U.S., he is a two-time U.S. national champion.
Penny Coomes is a former English competitive ice dancer who represented Great Britain. With partner Nicholas Buckland, she is the 2014 European Figure Skating Championships bronze medalist and has won six other international medals. They are also five-time British national champions, and have competed three times at the Winter Olympics, in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
Nicholas "Nick" Buckland is a former English competitive ice dancer who represented Great Britain. With partner Penny Coomes, he is the 2014 European bronze medalist and has won six other international medals. They are also five-time British national champions, and they have also competed three-times at the Winter Olympics in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
Betty Daphne Callaway-Fittall, MBE was an English figure skating coach who specialised in ice dancing. She was best known as the coach of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the 1984 Olympic champions, and also trained 1980 world champions Krisztina Regőczy and András Sallay, and 1972 European champions Angelika and Erich Buck.
The ninth series of Dancing on Ice aired from 5 January to 9 March 2014 on ITV. It was announced on 22 October 2013 that this series would be the show's last, and would be an 'All-Star' series featuring former winners and previous contestants. Phillip Schofield and Christine Bleakley returned to present, with Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean returning as mentors. Robin Cousins, Jason Gardiner, Karen Barber, and Ashley Roberts returned to The Ice Panel. Cousins was unable to appear on the ice panel during weeks 6 and 7 due to him commentating the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and was replaced by original judge Nicky Slater, while Barber acted as head judge.
Janet Anne Sawbridge was a British ice dancer and figure skating coach. Partnered with David Hickinbottom, she won bronze at the 1964 World Figure Skating Championships and silver at the 1965 World Figure Skating Championships. Partnered with Jon Lane, she won bronze at the 1968 World Figure Skating Championships. As a coach, she was known for pairing Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.
Torvill & Dean is a British television biopic written by William Ivory, directed by Gillies MacKinnon, and broadcast on ITV on Christmas Day 2018. It is about the early life and careers of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the Nottinghamshire ice dancers who went on to record a perfect score and win the Olympic gold medal in Sarajevo at the 1984 Winter Olympics.
The fifteenth series of Dancing on Ice debuted on ITV on 15 January 2023. During the finale of the fourteenth series, it was announced that Dancing on Ice had been renewed for another series. The series was once again filmed in the purpose-built studio at Bovingdon Airfield. Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby returned as hosts. Ashley Banjo, Christopher Dean, Oti Mabuse, and Jayne Torvill also returned as judges. This series decreased the number of live shows to nine weeks instead of ten, and featured one fewer celebrity contestant than usual.
Media related to Christopher Dean at Wikimedia Commons
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