Christopher Dean

{{Infobox figure skater

|name= Christopher Dean
OBE

|image= Christopher Dean.jpg

|caption= Dean on the Dancing on Ice tour in Manchester, 2010

|country= {{GBR2}}

|birth_name= Christopher Colin Dean

|birth_date= {{birth date and age|df=yes|1958|7|27}}

|birth_place= Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England

|spouse= {{ubl|{{marriage|Isabelle Duchesnay|1991|1993|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Jill Trenary|1994|2010|end=divorced}}}}

|residence=

|height = {{height|ft=5|in=10.5}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/de/christopher-dean-1.html |title=Christopher Dean: Bio, Stats and Results |date=17 April 2020 |work=sports-reference.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417114128/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/de/christopher-dean-1.html |archive-date=17 April 2020 |url-status=dead}}

|formerpartner= Sandra Elson,

Jayne Torvill

|coach=

|formercoach= Betty Callaway, Janet Sawbridge

|choreographer=

|formerchoreographer=

|skating club=

|retired= 1984, 1994

| medaltemplates=

{{MedalCountry|{{GBR2}}}}

}}

Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer considered, with his skating partner Jayne Torvill, amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/figureskating/opinion/2011/11/pjs-all-time-top-10-ice-dance.html |title=Pj's all-time top 10: Ice dance |date=22 November 2011 |first=P. J. |last=Kwong |publisher=CBC Sports |accessdate=29 March 2025}} 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

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.Piers Morgan's Life Stories, 8 March 2013

From 1974 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

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|date=May 2022}}

Dean also served as the chief choreographer for the Torvill and Dean team.

File:2011 - Dancing on Ice (Manchester Evening News Arena) Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean (5677724923).jpg 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. It was one of the most popular achievements in the history of British sport, watched by a British television audience of 24 million people. 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.{{Cite web|date=22 April 2014|title=Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill: how we made Boléro|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/apr/22/how-we-made-bolero-christopher-dean-jayne-torvill|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222055125/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/apr/22/how-we-made-bolero-christopher-dean-jayne-torvill|archive-date=22 February 2022|access-date=22 February 2022|website=the Guardian|language=en}}

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".{{Cite news |date=2023-12-28 |title=Holly Willoughby to return to Dancing on Ice alongside Stephen Mulhern |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67832517 |access-date=2023-12-30}}{{Cite web |title=Holly Willoughby TV Return |url=https://www.itv.com/news/2023-12-28/holly-willoughby-to-make-tv-return-alongside-stephen-mulhern}}{{Cite web |date=2021-12-22 |title=Strictly's Oti Mabuse to join Dancing on Ice as judge |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a38583523/dancing-on-ice-oti-mabuse-judge/ |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB}} 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.{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/winter_sports/16234415.stm | title = Torvill and Dean could return to help British ice skaters | first = Ollie | last = Williams | date = 3 January 2012 | access-date = 3 January 2012 | work=BBC News}} 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 =

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!Event

!75–76

!76–77

!77–78

!78–79

!79–80

!80–81

!81–82

!82–83

!83–84

!93–94

style="text-align: left;" |Olympics

|5th

| style="background:gold;" |1st

| style="background:#c96;" |3rd

style="text-align: left;" |Worlds

|11th

|8th

|4th

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |Europeans

|9th

|6th

|4th

| style="background:gold;" |1st

| align="center" |{{abbr|WD|Withdrew}}

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |British Championships

|4th

| style="background:#c96;" |3rd

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |NHK Trophy

| style="background:silver;" |2nd

style="text-align: left;" |St Ivel International

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |Oberstdorf

| style="background:silver;" |2nd

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |St Gervais

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |Morzine Trophy

| style="background:silver;" |2nd

style="text-align: left;" |John Davis Trophy

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |Sheffield Trophy

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |Rotary Watches Competition

| style="background:silver;" |2nd

style="text-align: left;" |Northern Championships

| style="background:gold;" |1st

colspan="11" align="center" |WD: Withdrew

= Professional results =

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!Event

!1984

!1985

!1990

!1994

!1995

!1996

style="text-align: left;" |World Professional Championships

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |Challenge of Champions

| style="background:gold;" |1st

style="text-align: left;" |World Team Championship

| style="background:#c96;" |3rd

| style="background:gold;" |1st

Professional programmes

class="wikitable"

!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

Amateur programmes

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!OSP/ORD

!Free Dance

!Exhibitions

1978

|The Great Waldo Pepper

1979

|Masquerade

|Slaughter on Tenth Avenue{{cite web|date=21 April 2010|title=Torvill & Dean (GBR) – 1979 World Figure Skating Championships, Ice Dancing, Free Dance|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqmp276DENg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/Rqmp276DENg| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

|Evergreen{{cite web|date=5 January 2010|title=Torvill & Dean Evergreen|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4JTI_2zWlE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/C4JTI_2zWlE| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

1980

|A Little Street in Singapore

|Sing Sing Sing etc.{{cite web|date=20 December 2009|title=Torvill & Dean (GBR) – 1980 Winter Games, Ice Dancing, Free Dance|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzeqrQGye_U |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/fzeqrQGye_U| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

|Puttin' On the Ritz

1981

|Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)

|Fame etc.{{cite web|date=24 April 2010|title=Torvill & Dean (GBR) – 1981 World Figure Skating Championships, Free Dance|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsOSQAJ7DTI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/wsOSQAJ7DTI| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

|History of Love (version 1){{cite web|date=21 June 2009|title=1981 History Of Love Torvill and Dean|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dinMYVnpFlo&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL5A657F8D4C078C3E|url-status=dead|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=YouTube|archive-date=10 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110113109/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dinMYVnpFlo&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL5A657F8D4C078C3E}}

1982

|Summertime{{cite web|title=Torvill & Dean – 1982|url=http://www.torvillanddean.com/video82.html|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=Torvillanddean.com|archive-date=2 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402093048/http://www.torvillanddean.com/video82.html|url-status=dead}}

|Mack and Mabel{{cite web|title=Torvill & Dean – 1983 Part 1|url=http://www.torvillanddean.com/video83_1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502235252/http://www.torvillanddean.com/video83_1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 May 2010|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=Torvillanddean.com}}

|The Hop, Kiss Me Kate, Fast Tap

1983

|Rock n Roll

|Barnum{{cite web|title=Torvill & Dean – 1983 Part 2|url=http://www.torvillanddean.com/video83_2.html|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=Torvillanddean.com|archive-date=31 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131153450/http://torvillanddean.com/video83_2.html|url-status=dead}}

|Putting on the Ritz

1984

|Capriccio Espagnol, Rimsky Korsakov

|Boléro{{cite web|title=Torvill & Dean – 1984 Part 2|url=http://www.torvillanddean.com/video84_2.html|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=Torvillanddean.com|archive-date=2 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402093135/http://www.torvillanddean.com/video84_2.html|url-status=dead}}

|I Won't Send Roses{{cite web|date=4 January 2010|title=Torvill & Dean (GBR) – 1984 Sarajevo, Figure Skating, Exhibition (Encore)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSGMwwlHKfw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/wSGMwwlHKfw| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

1994

|History of Love (version 2){{cite web|title=Torvill & Dean – 1994 Part 1|url=http://www.torvillanddean.com/video94_1.html|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=Torvillanddean.com|archive-date=31 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131153513/http://torvillanddean.com/video94_1.html|url-status=dead}}

|Let's Face the Music{{cite web|title=Torvill & Dean – 1994 Part 2|url=http://www.torvillanddean.com/video94_2.html|access-date=17 October 2011|publisher=Torvillanddean.com|archive-date=31 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131153540/http://torvillanddean.com/video94_2.html|url-status=dead}}

|Boléro

Honours

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.

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, 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.{{Cite web|title=Piers Morgan's Life Stories – Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean – Part 4 of 4 – 8th March 2013 – YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzXKq5PRbAo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/nzXKq5PRbAo| archive-date=12 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=28 August 2020|website=www.youtube.com| date=9 March 2013 }}{{cbignore}}

He has been in a relationship with Karen Barber since 2011.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/2020020984350/christopher-dean-romance-partner-karen-barber/|title=Who is Christopher Dean's partner? Inside his relationship with Karen Barber|date=9 February 2020|work=hellomagazine.com}}

Dean also remained close friends with partner Jayne Torvill.[https://www.itv.com/hub/dna-journey/2a5252a0008 Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean: DNA Journey]

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. {{Cite web|url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/masked-dancer-viewers-floored-christopher-20738615| title=The Masked Dancer viewers floored as Christopher Dean reveals his age after being unveiled as Beagle| date=3 June 2021| work=Birmingham mail.co.uk| access-date=22 April 2023}}

In popular culture

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

References

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite web | url = http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/heroes/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=76762 | title = Athlete Profile – Dean | publisher = olympic.org | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060103234734/http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/heroes/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=76762 | archive-date = 3 January 2006 | url-status = dead }}

{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/14/newsid_4156000/4156053.stm | title = 1984: British ice couple score Olympic gold | work = BBC News | date = 14 February 1984 }}

{{cite news | url = http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest_sporting/results.html | title = 100 Greatest Sporting Moments – Results | publisher = Channel 4 }}

{{cite news | url = http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-figureskating-sarajevo-idUKBREA1C22Y20140214 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160306153220/http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-figureskating-sarajevo-idUKBREA1C22Y20140214 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 6 March 2016 | title = Torvill & Dean relive Bolero 30 years on | first = Daria | last = Sito-Sucic | work = Reuters | date = 14 February 2014 }}

}}

External links

[http://www.torvillanddean.com/ Torvill & Dean (official site)]
{{Team GB}}
{{Olympics.com}}
{{Olympedia}}
{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220134909/http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/tag/christopher-dean/ |title=Christopher Dean at Unreality TV }}
{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120174859/http://www.cfsschool.com/FamousPupils.html |date=20 January 2008 |title=Colonel Frank Seely School }}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Christopher Dean

|list =

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Category:1958 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Calverton, Nottinghamshire

Category:Sportspeople from Nottinghamshire

Category:English male ice dancers

Category:English Olympic competitors

Category:BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners

Category:Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics