Tom Daley knows what it feels like to fly—literally. At just 14, the British diving prodigy stunned the world with fearless grace, somersaulting 30 feet above a pool in Beijing and landing in Olympic lore without so much as a splash. Diving gave him more than medals; it became a language—one that expressed control, pain, joy, and ultimately, freedom. Now 31, Tom Daley’s next leap—from competitive sport into family life, fashion, and queer storytelling—is just as bold.
We catch him over Zoom, framed by a towering rainbow wall of yarn in his Los Angeles home, where he lives with husband Dustin Lance Black and their two sons. It’s a world far removed from chlorine and podiums—yet perfectly suited for someone who’s always made space for himself. “Honestly, it seems surreal looking back,” he laughs.
“I was a teenager under a global microscope, trying to compete, trying to come out, trying to stay sane”
That adolescence wasn’t just press tours and Olympic schedules. It was shadowed by secrecy. “I felt I had to overachieve just to compensate for who I was,” Daley explains. “There was this constant weight: how do I perform under pressure and still stay invisible in the ways I thought I needed to be?”
The pressure finally broke in 2013—not with a tabloid leak, but through a raw, self-shot YouTube video. “It wasn’t about attention,” he says.
“It was about control. My words, my voice, no edits, no headlines twisting it”
In hindsight, that moment wasn’t just personal. It was cultural. Daley became one of the first openly queer athletes to hold global visibility—not through a press rollout, but by taking the mic himself. Even now, YouTube remains his platform of choice. While that might seem strategic in today’s influencer age, back then, it was quietly radical.
His 2024 retirement didn’t come with dramatic fanfare either. “I always knew my body wouldn’t let me dive forever,” he says. “What surprised me was how ready I was to let go.” Rather than slide into commentary or coaching, Daley pivoted hard. Enter Made With Love, his knitwear brand with over 1.4 million followers and shelf space in Michaels and JOANN. What began as a pandemic hobby quickly turned into a fashion-meets-craft movement.
“I bought yarn, watched a few tutorials, and just… fell in,” he says. “I’ve always been drawn to rhythm and precision. Honestly, it’s not that different from diving—it’s just quieter.” The brand’s bold, bright designs are personal, expressive, and community-driven. “What I love most about knitting is that it’s not about being perfect—it’s about being connected. That’s something I missed in sport.”
That ethos powers his latest venture, The Game of Wool, a new knitting reality show Daley is hosting. It’s as chaotic as it is cozy, with high-stakes fiber art drama styled like a makeover show meets bake-off tent. But beyond the whimsy, it’s about visibility and craft.
“Knitting has always been a way to tell stories,” he says. “Now we get to amplify that joyfully”
Yet Daley isn’t turning away from what shaped him. His upcoming documentary, Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds, revisits not only the physical brilliance of his career but the emotional terrain underneath. The title reflects the time he’d spend suspended mid-air during a dive—a fleeting space between control and surrender. “It’s a strange time capsule,” he says, eyes soft. “Watching old footage—some of it filmed by my dad—I realized how much I’d forgotten, and how much I still needed to understand.”
Above all, the documentary is for his sons. “This is for them,” he says quietly.
“It was a way to show who I was, what I loved, and what I overcame to become who I am”
— Tom Daley
Whether it’s through yarn, film, or family, Tom Daley is still diving—just in different ways. He’s crafting a life as intentional as any gold-medal routine. Row by row, leap by leap.
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