'The city is like a warm hug': Torvill and Dean say Nottingham will be favourite stop on final tour
Rosie Dowsing reports from Sarajevo where Torvill and Dean announce their retirement from skating together.
Nottingham skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean say the city will always feel like home as they announce their retirement after 50 years of skating together, on the 40th anniversary of winning Olympic gold in the Sarajevo Olympics.
The duo returned to the capital city of Bosnia-Herzegovina to mark the milestone, as they announced next year will be their 50th and final year skating together.
For the skating legends, 14 February is not Valentine's Day, but rather "Bolero Day", which they have said to each other every year since their victorious performance in Sarajevo.
While revisiting the city, Christopher Dean told ITV Central: "Nottingham is home. It feels like a warm hug.
"We walk around the city and people simply say, 'hi Chris, hi Jayne'. We feel like the children of the city."
Jayne Torvill added: "It’s where we grew up, not many cities had an ice rink but Nottingham had a well established ice rink and there was a great interest in skating there. So I think fate had it we both grew up there."
As part of the tour of Sarajevo, Torvill and Dean announced they would retire in Spring 2025 after a final UK tour, with tickets on sale from 14 February.
Asked whether Nottingham, and skating to a home crowd would be their favourite stop on the tour, the pair smiled and nodded.
The legendary pair told ITV News Central Reporter Rosie Dowsing what Nottingham means to them.
While in Sarajevo, Torvill and Dean were welcomed onto the ice by young skaters from the city at the Sarajevo Open skating event, where they skated to a snippet of the Bolero for probably the last time in the country that saw them win gold.
They also revisited the Olympic village they called home for two weeks, and skated with children from East Sarajevo who were on the ice for the first time.
The city has been celebrating 'Olympics Week' to mark the 40th anniversary.
One local who was six when she gave Torvill and Dean flowers after their performance, said the city is proud of its Olympic history as a symbol of togetherness, because it was plunged into the bitter Bosnian war eight years later.
Elma Krasny, now 46, said: "Sarajevo just loves [Torvill and Dean], they are such a beautiful part of our lives because after the Olympics, there was war.
"I think a lot of people found strength and motivation for this war because of the lovely memories we had during the Olympics, and the lovely memories we had with them."
It's clear Sarajevo and Nottingham will always be the two cities that Torvill and Dean most hold dear.
The duo will continue to work together judging contestants on ITV's Dancing on Ice, but 2025 will see them stop skating together, at the ages of 66 and 65.
Christopher Dean said: "We feel it's right after 50 years, to do the final tour, the "last dance" for us."
Asked what the secret is to a 50 year partnership, the pair laughed and said: "I think the secret is not getting married, that's all we know."
Torvill added: "We knew each other from nine years old and skated with each other through our teen years, twenties, thirties... fifties and sixties."
The pair remain good friends after decades of bringing their sport before the eyes of millions.
Their final tour, 'Torvill and Dean: Our Last Dance' runs from 12 April - 11 May 2025.
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