Young ice skaters to play Torvill and Dean on tour

Two ice skaters from Blackpool and St Annes have said they are "beyond excited" to be portraying a young Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean on tour.

Hugo Brooks, 13, and Darcy Walshaw, 12, have been skating together since they were introduced by coach Katie Stainsby at Blackpool Pleasure Beach's ice arena four years ago.

The pair will be performing in arenas across the country as part of Torvill and Dean's farewell tour, celebrating 50 years since they formed their skating partnership.

"They've given us so much advice and tips," Darcy said.

Darcy, who has been skating for six years, told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I watched a family friend in a show and I thought, 'I want to do that'."

She said when she met Hugo "we hit it off straight away, instantly becoming friends both on and off the ice, and we've been skating together ever since".

Darcy, who has also attended ice-skating camps, including Disney on Ice and the International School of Skating, she said playing Jayne Torvill is "a massive experience".

"I have such a good time, I'm beyond excited to play the part of young Jayne Torvill," she said.

When she is not skating she said she enjoys "spending time with my family, my dog and guinea pig and double maths" at her school, which she said has been "very supportive" of her ice skating.

Hugo, who has been skating for five years, said he was inspired to have a go after watching pantomimes on ice.

He said he was "super, super excited and also really grateful" to play a young Christopher Dean.

"Growing up, they have been two of my biggest inspirations, and I even did a school project on them, researching their journey from young skaters to Olympic legends," he said.

Torvill and Dean said the One Last Dance tour, with performances in venues including Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, is "a celebration of our careers".

Their gold medal-winning performance of Bolero in 1984 at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo made the pair the highest-scoring figure skaters of all time for a single programme.

Judges gave them a dozen perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s, which included artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge.

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