The iconic double act feature in an upcoming episode (Picture: ITV)

Emmerdale is about to be graced by sporting royalty when ice dancing icons Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean take to the ice in special festive scenes of the soap.

At the 1984 Winter Olympics the pair won a gold medal and became the highest-scoring figure skaters of all time for a single programme, with artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge, after skating to Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. The performance was watched by a British television audience of more than 24 million people.

More recently TV audiences are very familiar with Torvill and Dean from the popular ITV show Dancing On Ice, which has been airing since 2006. The contestants in the next series include Emmerdale’s Roxy Shahidi (Leyla), and in a nice crossover Jayne and Christopher were asked if they would like to appear on Emmerdale.

Christopher Dean told us how it came about. ‘We were at a function for ITV somewhere in London and all the Emmerdale actors were down there and I think it was Mark [Charnock, who plays Marlon] who said “You should do something in Emmerdale.” One of the producers was there and she said “I think we can make that happen.”’

The storyline they came up with was for Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) to decide to propose to boyfriend Tom King (James Chase) – who happens to be a huge Torvill and Dean fan.

‘It was just a surprise for Tom, because apparently he’s mad about Torvill and Dean. So it was a surprise for him and a proposal for Belle with him. So it’s great to be a part of that,’ Christopher said.

Viewers will be dazzled by Torvill and Dean performing their iconic Bolero routine. When they filmed the sequence for Emmerdale it was the first time they’d skated together for eight months – and it was emotional, as Jayne described.

Belle has a huge surprise for Tom (Picture: ITV)

‘I’ve had surgeries, Chris was working and he literally flew back a couple of days ago, he was working on another show choreographing and he’d been there for weeks. I’d skated a few times by myself when I was allowed to get back on the ice. So this was the first day. I was very excited. I had a little tear and I’m usually known as a stone-heart! I was just excited to get back on the ice.’

‘This is the first time as us on ice in a soap,’ Christopher confirmed, although they have previously appeared in Coronation Street as themselves in a non-skating capacity.

Tom is amazed to see them (Picture: ITV)

This time the two will also have some lines to say. ‘I think we’ve got something at the Woolpack,’ Christopher said. ‘We’re having a pint later at the Woolpack. We’ll be there doing a little bit of dialogue.’

Asked whether they would like to come back to Emmerdale at a future date, both stars enthusiastically agreed that they would – possibly if Belle and Tom decided to carry on the ice theme for their wedding.

‘Good idea!’ Jayne responded.

‘Torvill and Dean were part of the proposal, so they’ll have to, won’t they?’ Christopher added.

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In the meantime sharp-eyed viewers will be able to spot Torvill and Dean fairly regularly, as the show’s official photographer was on hand to capture Belle’s proposal and the involvement of the ice dancing duo and the photos may well find themselves on Belle’s mantlepiece.

‘Apparently we might be in picture frames in the houses and in the Woolpack and last for a while!’ Christopher confirmed.

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This absolutely needs to happen!