NAMES IN THE NEWS : Betrothed, Ice Star Torvill Says

Olympic ice dancer Jayne Torvill said today she’s engaged to American sound engineer Phil Christensen, who is touring with pop star Phil Collins.

The 32-year-old skater said she met 35-year-old Christensen when he worked on the Torvill and Dean ice show tour of the United States last year.

But she said their romance didn’t begin until January when he asked her for a date--at a hamburger restaurant. Three months later, he gave her a diamond engagement ring.

“I’m very, very happy,” she told reporters here, where the ice show is on tour. Torvill said work commitments mean they cannot yet set a wedding date.

Christensen, from Chicago, is on tour until October with Collins; the Torvill and Dean tour doesn’t end until September.

Torvill and skating partner Christopher Dean won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics and went on to perform their ice dance routines all over the world.

The engagement ended years of speculation over Torvill’s relationship with Dean, who told reporters he was overjoyed at her engagement.