If it wasn't for Chris's quick thinking, Jayne would have died

WHEN Jayne Torvill returns to the Dancing on Ice rink tonight with Christopher Dean, it will be a poignant moment for the veteran pair who have skated together for nearly 50 years.

- Olivia Buxton

 

Having won Olympic gold in Sarajevo in 1984 with their iconic Bolero routine, viewers might take for granted the former world champions’ effortless performances.

However, Jayne knows how lucky she is to be here after Chris saved her life on more than one occasion.

The 65-year-old star has suffered from asthma since her early 20s but, more recently, has developed an even more severe allergy to nuts.

On location in Canada, Jayne recalls how she drank a coffee with almond milk and, triggering an anaphylactic shock, it caused her blood pressure to drop and blocked her airways.

Luckily Chris, 64, was on hand to give her an emergency injection with an EpiPen to quickly combat the reaction.

Talking about it for the first time, Jayne said: “I first discovered I had a peanut allergy about 10 years ago – and I had grown up eating peanuts and nuts my whole life.

“But it was only when I drank coffee with almond milk in it that I had this severe reaction.

“Things could have been even worse had Chris not been there.”

Looking shaken, Chris continued: “We were in Alaska in 2019, the middle of nowhere on a lake when Jayne’s voice started to get really hoarse and she was speaking as if she was in slow motion.

“She was struggling to breathe and I recognised the signs immediately.