Christopher Dean

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title: "Christopher Dean" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1958-births", "living-people", "people-from-calverton,-nottinghamshire", "sportspeople-from-nottinghamshire", "english-male-ice-dancers", "english-olympic-competitors", "bbc-sports-personality-of-the-year-winners", "figure-skaters-at-the-1980-winter-olympics", "figure-skaters-at-the-1984-winter-olympics", "figure-skaters-at-the-1994-winter-olympics", "figure-skating-choreographers", "british-figure-skating-coaches", "officers-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire", "olympic-bronze-medallists-for-great-britain", "olympic-figure-skaters-for-great-britain", "olympic-gold-medallists-for-great-britain", "officers-in-english-police-forces", "olympic-medalists-in-figure-skating", "primetime-emmy-award-winners", "world-figure-skating-championships-medalists", "european-figure-skating-championships-medalists", "medalists-at-the-1984-winter-olympics", "medalists-at-the-1994-winter-olympics", "sportspeople-awarded-knighthoods"] description: "English ice dancer (born 1958)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Dean" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English ice dancer (born 1958) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox figure skater"]

Field	Value
honorific_prefix	Sir
name	Christopher Dean
honorific_suffix
image	Christopher Dean.jpg
caption	Dean on the Dancing on Ice tour in Manchester, 2010
country
birth_name	Christopher Colin Dean
birth_date
birth_place	Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England
spouse
height
retired	1984, 1994
medaltemplates
::

|honorific_prefix= Sir |name= Christopher Dean |honorific_suffix= |image= Christopher Dean.jpg |caption= Dean on the Dancing on Ice tour in Manchester, 2010 |country= |birth_name= Christopher Colin Dean |birth_date= |birth_place= Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England |spouse= |height = |coach= |skating club= |retired= 1984, 1994 | medaltemplates=

Sir Christopher Colin Dean (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer considered, with his skating partner, Jayne Torvill, amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. They were also four-time world and European champions and seven-time British champions.

Early life

Christopher Colin Dean was born on 27 July 1958 and grew up in Calverton, Nottinghamshire. When he was aged six, his mother left and his father remarried. Dean never talked about this with his father or stepmother, both of whom have died. He regained contact with his mother.

From 1977 to 1980, he was a police constable with Nottinghamshire Police.

Skating career

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.

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.

Dean also served as the chief choreographer for the Torvill and Dean team. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/2011_-Dancing_on_Ice(Manchester_Evening_News_Arena)Jayne_Torvill&Christopher_Dean(5677724923).jpg" caption="[[Torvill and Dean]] performing in 2011"] ::

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 at a Winter Olympics. It was one of the most popular achievements in the history of British sport, watched by a British television audience of 24 million people.

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 participated in the ITV show Dancing on Ice. Each series ran from January to March with Torvill and Dean as "judges". The show then migrates to go on tour to arenas across the United Kingdom.

In January 2012 Dean said he was open to working with the National Ice Skating Association to help British competitive skating. Torvill and Dean were ambassadors for the 2012 European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England. 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.

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.

Competitive results

Amateur results

::data[format=table]

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
::

Professional results

::data[format=table]

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
::

Professional programmes

::data[format=table]

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
Challenge of Champions			Echoes of Ireland		Still Crazy After All These Years, Cecilia
World Team Championships				Let's Face the Music, Encounter	Bridge Over Troubled Water, Cecilia
::

Amateur programmes

::data[format=table]

OSP/ORD	Free Dance	Exhibitions
1978		The Great Waldo Pepper
1979	Masquerade	Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
1980	A Little Street in Singapore	Sing Sing Sing etc.
1981	Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)	Fame etc.
1982	Summertime	Mack and Mabel
1983	Rock n Roll	Barnum
1984	Capriccio Espagnol, Rimsky Korsakov	title=Torvill & Dean – 1984 Part 2
1994	History of Love (version 2)	Let's Face the Music
::

Personal life

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 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.

He has been in a relationship with Karen Barber since 2011.

Dean has also remained a close friend of his skating partner Jayne Torvill.

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.

Honours

Dean was appointed an Honorary Freeman of the City of Nottingham in 1983.

He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1981 New Year Honours for services to ice dancing, promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to ice skating, and knighted in the 2026 New Year Honours for services to Ice Skating and to Voluntary Service.

In popular culture

Dean was portrayed by Will Tudor in the 2018 ITV biopic Torvill & Dean.

References

References

1. (17 April 2020). "Christopher Dean: Bio, Stats and Results". sports-reference.com.
2. Kwong, P. J.. (22 November 2011). "Pj's all-time top 10: Ice dance". [[CBC Sports]].
3. ''[[Piers Morgan's Life Stories]]'', 8 March 2013
4. (22 April 2014). "Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill: how we made Boléro".
5. (2023-12-28). "Holly Willoughby to return to Dancing on Ice alongside Stephen Mulhern". BBC News.
6. "Holly Willoughby TV Return".
7. (2021-12-22). "Strictly's Oti Mabuse to join Dancing on Ice as judge".
8. Williams, Ollie. (3 January 2012). "Torvill and Dean could return to help British ice skaters". BBC News.
9. (21 April 2010). "Torvill & Dean (GBR) – 1979 World Figure Skating Championships, Ice Dancing, Free Dance". YouTube.
10. (5 January 2010). "Torvill & Dean Evergreen". YouTube.
11. (20 December 2009). "Torvill & Dean (GBR) – 1980 Winter Games, Ice Dancing, Free Dance". YouTube.
12. (24 April 2010). "Torvill & Dean (GBR) – 1981 World Figure Skating Championships, Free Dance". YouTube.
13. (21 June 2009). "1981 History Of Love Torvill and Dean". YouTube.
14. "Torvill & Dean – 1982". Torvillanddean.com.
15. "Torvill & Dean – 1983 Part 1". Torvillanddean.com.
16. "Torvill & Dean – 1983 Part 2". Torvillanddean.com.
17. "Torvill & Dean – 1984 Part 2". Torvillanddean.com.
18. (4 January 2010). "Torvill & Dean (GBR) – 1984 Sarajevo, Figure Skating, Exhibition (Encore)". YouTube.
19. "Torvill & Dean – 1994 Part 1". Torvillanddean.com.
20. "Torvill & Dean – 1994 Part 2". Torvillanddean.com.
21. (9 March 2013). "Piers Morgan's Life Stories – Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean – Part 4 of 4 – 8th March 2013 – YouTube".
22. (9 February 2020). "Who is Christopher Dean's partner? Inside his relationship with Karen Barber". hellomagazine.com.
23. [https://www.itv.com/hub/dna-journey/2a5252a0008 Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean: DNA Journey]
24. (3 June 2021). "The Masked Dancer viewers floored as Christopher Dean reveals his age after being unveiled as Beagle". Birmingham Mail.
25. "Honorary Freemen of Notts".
26. UK list: {{London Gazette. (12 June 1981)
27. {{London Gazette. (30 December 1999)
28. {{London Gazette. (29 December 2025)
29. "King's New Year Honours List 2026: Torvill and Dean to receive top honours".
30. "Athlete Profile – Dean". olympic.org.
31. (14 February 1984). "1984: British ice couple score Olympic gold". BBC News.
32. "100 Greatest Sporting Moments – Results". Channel 4.
33. Sito-Sucic, Daria. (14 February 2014). "Torvill & Dean relive Bolero 30 years on". [[Reuters]].

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