Those fears proved unfounded. As all the world now knows, Dancing On Ice has become one of television's biggest hits in recent years, the current series attracting more than 10 million viewers.

Jayne says: "We knew from quite early on that we'd struck a chord with the public because the demand for tickets to attend the live show dramatically outstripped the supply. The studio holds not much more than 300 people and we had thousands of applications."

Which led to the second gamble. "Jayne and I started talking and we decided to go to promoter Phil McIntyre with the idea of taking the basic concept of the show out on the road to some of the UK's largest ice skating arenas. But while we knew the TV show was popular, we couldn't be sure that we'd fill auditoriums that held up to 10,000 people."

Again, they needn't have worried. The first Dancing On Ice tour took place last year almost immediately after the TV series ended with former England rugby international Kyran Bracken crowned the ultimate winner. He is going to be involved again this year when the 2008 tour opens at Sheffield Arena tonight and then moves on to Nottingham, Newcastle, Birmingham, Wembley, the O2 Arena in Docklands, Liverpool, Manchester and back in Sheffield for an extra date on May 17.

The format will not be dissimilar from the TV show with the audience texting their choice of celebrity skater and partner, culminating in the final showdown between two couples each dancing their interpretation of Torvill and Dean's famous Bolero. Then it's down to the judges to choose the winner on that occasion. Last year, Bonnie Langford – again part of the action this year – won more times than any other celebrity taking part and was presented with an overall winner's trophy at the completion of the tour.

The winner of this year's televised competition, Suzanne Shaw, will be taking part, though not on opening night. She will be joined by the other finalists, Chris Fountain, Gareth Gates, Zaraah Abrahams and Linda Lusardi, along with Clare Buckfield and David Seaman, both popular participants from previous Dancing On Ice TV series.

Torvill and Dean are the first to admit that returning to the rink eight years after they retired in 1998 was a bit of a shock to the system.

Jayne says: "Doing the TV show and now the tour means that I'm fitter than I've been for a long time but there are still things that the body won't do."

Chris chimes in. "The trouble is, that our minds still think we're 20."