Dancing On Ice viewers were left divided after Olympic duo Torvill and Dean took to the ice on Sunday evening.
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who won gold at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, announced last year they would retire after their tour ends in the summer.
The skating duo closed the launch episode of the ITV show with a classic performance of Let The Good Times Roll.
And speaking to MailOnline ahead of Sunday’s launch, the skating duo revealed their second appearance later in the series would be their last ever on TV.
But viewers’ opinions on their first, penultimate broadcast of skate on Sunday were divided, as some fans raved about the performance, calling Torvill and Dean ‘superstars’.
Meanwhile, others were less than impressed, labeling the skaters’ performance as ‘boring’.
Dancing On Ice viewers were left divided after Olympic duo Torvill and Dean took to the ice on Sunday evening
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who won gold at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, announced last year that they would retire after their tour ends in the summer
On X, formerly Twitter, fans of the pair wrote: ‘A brilliant performance from @torvillanddean as always,’;
‘@torvillanddean still knocks it out of the park… as brilliant as ever,’; ‘T&D are superstars, as always!’;
‘I love watching Torvill and Dean skate ,’; ‘People unfairly hate Torvill and Dean, it’s a joy to watch them skate, that was a great routine’;
‘Torville and Dean still the best,’; ‘Torville and Dean are just great. Ahhhh almost 70,’;
“Anyone complaining about Torvill and Dean, they’re reaching 60, to even be able to do this at their age is still good. You can see they are struggling, so it makes sense for them to retire this year.”
However, the unimpressed viewers commented: ‘I get torville and Dean got gold and the rest and they can still skate at their age but god they bore me’;
‘Can we vote out Chris and Jayne’; ‘Torville and Dean perform on loop. It’s rinse and repeat,’;
‘Are they just doing the same dance to different music? No wonder they’re retiring.’
Speaking on Friday, Torvill and Dean revealed that their second Dancing On Ice appearance during the 2025 series will be their last ever together on TV as they prepare for retirement.
The duo, known as Torvill and Dean, shot to fame when they won gold at the Olympics with their iconic skate on Maurice Ravel’s Boléro – which is replicated every year by the Dancing On Ice finalists.
The skating duo closed the ITV show’s launch episode with a classic performance of Let The Good Times Roll
But viewers’ opinions on their first, penultimate broadcast of skate on Sunday were divided, with some fans gushing over the performance and calling Torvill and Dean ‘superstars’.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans of the pair wrote: ‘A brilliant performance from @torvillanddean as always,’
The skating stars surprise Dancing On Ice viewers every year as they take to the ice themselves, but they have now confirmed this will no longer be part of the ITV show.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, the couple explained: ‘This is our last year so it’s a big year.
“We’re going to do two appearances during the series, but the second one will be our last ever on television.”
Reassuring fans that they will not be quitting Dancing On Ice, they added: ‘We will still do the show, but no more skating, finishing with our tour in the summer.
‘We have been with the show from the start and developed it together with ITV. It’s hard to know what impact it will have, and how we feel.’
Speaking about their impending retirement, they said: “We knew we would be hanging up skates at our 50th year.
“The idea of not having a schedule will be different.”
Chris added: “We thought this year was a good time to do it. Now that we both have bus passes, it’s time.’
And speaking to MailOnline ahead of Sunday’s launch, the skating duo revealed their second appearance later in the series would be their last ever on TV.
But unimpressed viewers commented: ‘I get torville and Dean got gold and the rest and they can still skate at their age but god they bore me’
The British skating duo will embark on a final UK tour next year, which will be their swan song and mark 50 years since they formed their skating partnership in 1975.
Announcing their retirement in February, Dean said the pair agreed now was the “right time” to retire from skating because they “aren’t spring chickens anymore and want to walk away while they still can” to some extent’. rank.’
“I guess there comes a time when you know,” Dean said. “We’re not spring chickens anymore, but we can still do it to a certain extent, so we feel good about it, but we’ll be fine.
“So I think this is the right time for us to be able to do that and go skating and do some of the old routines, be very nostalgic, but then do some new fun, upbeat (dances) with friends from us from the skating world and from Dancing On Ice.’