Tom Daley is taking over our TV screens. And there’s not a diving board in sight. In the first week of The Celebrity Traitors, the fabulously sceptical side eye he gave Kate Garraway became the talking point of an already much-talked-about show. And now the Olympic gold medallist is hoping to do for knitting what The Great British Bake Off did for the Victoria sponge.
More than a decade since Daley made his TV reality-show debut in Splash!, mentoring celebrity divers, this is his first presenting gig, and he’s loving it. He tells me about the wonders of knitting and crochet and talks so fast I can barely keep up. “It’s amazing what you can achieve in such a short time with just two needles or a crochet hook, and the benefits you get from knitting and crochet are just unparalleled.
“It’s the thing that allows me to get away from everything and be creative, present and to unwind. I stop thinking about all the things that have been in the past and are coming in the future, you’re just in the moment, and I think it’s the superpower that helped me get to an Olympic gold in Tokyo because there was so much time to overthink in the Covid Games, whereas when I was knitting I was able to stay focused and in the moment.” Finally, he takes a breath.
He has been through so much and has been in the public eye for so long, yet he still looks so boyish that it’s hard to believe he’s 31. There have been so many fantastic achievements and a fair few traumas along the way. Since he retired from diving last year, we are discovering more about the real Tom Daley. Not only are we seeing his fun side, he’s also now free to expose some of the more unsavoury aspects of elite sport.
Does he find presenting easy compared with diving? “It’s a lot less physically demanding.” And less painful? “You don’t hurt your head as much! You don’t do belly flops and, as I’ve got to know the judges and the contestants better, it’s become like a family. A woolly family!” He smiles. “It’s been really nice to be able to unleash that different side of me.”
In the show, Simon admits that a stranger saw him knitting and told him that doing a puzzle would be more manly. Daley says he has never received disparaging remarks, but the very fact that his knitting at the Tokyo Olympics became headline news tells its own story. Knitting, he says, has become a metaphor for life. “Every time you unravel your knitting, you’re not starting from scratch, you’re starting from experience.” So rather than berating himself for making mistakes, as he did in the past, he embraced the learning curve. “I started being kinder to myself when I made those mistakes.”
Daley now lives in Los Angeles with his husband, the film-maker Dustin Lance Black, and their two sons, Robbie (seven) and Phoenix (two). He’s been an active campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights and has witnessed so much progress in his lifetime, but now worries about a backlash. Earlier this year, Trump announced he would dismantle diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives. “It’s a scary time for lots of minorities all over the world. And it’s certainly a scary time for minorities in the US. It does feel as if there’s a regression in people’s opinions and thoughts. LA is obviously a bubble compared with the rest of the States, but it’s a big adjustment culturally to move to the US.”
He spoke about suffering from bulimia and body dysmorphia earlier this year in the documentary Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds (the title refers to the duration of a 10m dive from take-off to entering the water). When did he realise he had an eating disorder? “At the end of 2011, I realised that people within British diving were looking at me as not just a diver, but also what I actually looked like. I got told I was overweight.’ That’s ridiculous, I say. “Yep.” He nods. I remember being shocked by how little there was of him at the time.
Who told him he was overweight? “Alexei [Evangulov], the performance director.” Daley says it had a huge impact on him. “I had absolutely no idea what I was doing at that time, so I just cut out food. I was just not fuelling myself appropriately. I wasn’t giving myself enough calories to be able to properly train. I used to get so hungry that I’d binge. Then when I binged, I’d feel so bad that I was bulimic for a while.
“I grew up in a time when coaches were able to shout at you,” he says. It was a bullying culture? “Yes. It’s very different now. And this has created a more empowered athlete.” Was it traumatic? “Yes. But I look at it now as something that made me. I wonder if I would have been as good an athlete if I hadn’t had that.” While athletes are treated more respectfully by coaches these days, it also means they are more reliant on self-motivation. “Now,” he says, pointing to his heart, “if you’re going to be the best athlete, you have to have it here and want to do it yourself.”
Daley says he still struggles with body dysmorphia. “My husband’s been a huge support in that. I think it’s a big thing in the gay world, if I’m honest. Some people have very unrealistic body expectations.” He’d like to maintain the body of an athlete. Why? “One, mental health. I like exercising and I like being in shape. Now my training is not to be an Olympic athlete, it’s to be as fit and healthy to live longer for my kids. That’s the most important thing for me. Also whenever I have to do a photo shoot, I usually end up having to strip off at some point, so I have to feel confident enough to do so.”
Apart from maintaining his six-pack, he says he’s so much easier on himself than before. “I used to put all my self-worth and self-esteem into whether I was doing well or not at diving. As soon as I realised I was more than a diver, I was a parent, husband, friend, son, knitter, it gave me a different perspective and allowed me to flourish.”
Did it take marriage and children to realise that? “Yes, I think so. The biggest wake-up call was going into lockdown. That was when the knitting journey started. It was realising that you can’t control everything, things can change at any moment, so you should appreciate the things that you do have.
“When I went into competition after lockdown, I was grateful that the Olympics even happened, I was grateful that my family had got through the pandemic, and that I could stand on that platform and know that, regardless of whether I did well or terribly, my family was going to love me, whatever the outcome. It was so freeing. In my first few Olympics I tortured myself through the whole experience because I wanted to do well so badly.” In Tokyo, he simply felt, “I’m just going to enjoy it.” And that, of course, is when he won his gold medal.
Did he knit during filming? “Yeah, any time I was in the hotel I was just knitting, knitting, knitting. You get your phone taken off you, you can’t talk to anyone, you’re just in your room, so I was very glad I had knitting because I think lots of people were bored.” Did he persuade his fellow contestants to knit? “Erm no,” he says diffidently. “We wanted to do a knitting lesson in our downtime, but we never quite got around to it.” He sounds worried that he’s giving too much away. (Spoiler – the night after we speak, he is murdered by the Traitors.)
What does he hope we get out of the series? “I’d love to think that more and more people after watching this show will want to get involved. At least try it, pick up a set of knitting needles, pick up a crochet hook and give it a go.” He says if somebody had told him five years ago that he’d become a knitting evangelist, let alone hosting a knitting competition on TV, he would have laughed at them. “But now it forms such a big part of my life. I look forward to it every evening when I sit down after the kids are in bed. Knitting has changed my life, and I think it can do a world of good for so many people.”
GET KNITTING!Tom Daley has teamed up with RT for a festive jumper competition.
◼ Email your design to feedback@radiotimes.com with Knitting Competition in the subject line.
Entries must be received before midnight on Monday 10 November. For terms and conditions go to radiotimes.com/knitting
Hence then, the article about knitting is my superpower was published today ( ) and is available on Radio Times ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 'Knitting is my superpower' )
Also on site :