Tom Daley’s husband and children: what we know.

Tom Daley is an exceptional type of athlete who has become as famous for what he does in the stadium as for what he does in his favorite sport.

During the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the synchronized diving champion went viral for knitting in the stands, a habit he started during the 2020 pandemic when his husband, the Oscar-winning Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black suggested he take up a new hobby during lockdown.

“I ordered some needles and some yarn, went on YouTube and taught myself how to knit,” he said Out in 2023. “When I started doing that, I went to the Olympics and people saw me knitting. One thing led to another.”

In the years since Tokyo, Daley started his own knitting company, Made With Love, before returning to training for this year’s Olympics in Paris, where, yes, he found himself knitting again. Of course.

Britain’s Tom Daley will knit again in 2024. Photo: Getty.

This year, Tom Daley and Noah Williams won silver for Great Britain in the 10m synchro platform dive, making Daley the first British diver to compete in five consecutive Olympic Games.

It was a moment witnessed by Daley’s husband and their two sons, Robbie and Phoenix, with the children wearing merchandise with the words ‘Team Daley’ and ‘That’s my papa’ on their shirts.

“Before the competition started, it felt like we won. Just to be able to be there with my family and my kids is so special,” Daley said.

“They were just above the mixed zone when we were doing our interviews. Phoenix threw his juice cup at me. I’m going to have to give it back at some point. It nearly cost one of the BBC reporters. It was really nice to have him there and share that.”

Outside of the pool, Tom Daley is known for his knitting creations. Image: Instagram/@tomdaley.

Daley paid tribute to his husband, Black, whom he met in 2013, before becoming engaged in 2015 and marrying in 2017.

“The people closest to the Olympic athletes don’t get enough recognition for how much they really have to sacrifice and support. My husband has been there all year to be able to take the reins with the kids when I’m away at training camp or competition,” Daley added.

“He’s got his own career and he’s been willing to put that aside at times so I can achieve my goals. This year was definitely a setback because we moved to LA and Lance went back to his career and he’s been so supportive that I was able to go back and compete in the Olympics again. It’s just so special to have someone who has your back and supports you unconditionally.”

The Olympian’s silver medal is the crowning achievement of a great Games performance. Tom is the first diver to be given the role of flag bearer for Great Britain at the Olympic Games opening ceremony.

What we know about Tom Daley’s husband and two children.

Tom Daley met his future husband, Dustin Lance Black, through a mutual friend at a dinner in LA in 2013.

“It was really love at first sight,” Tom told the Observer. “The first night I took him to meet my friends and said, ‘This is my boyfriend.’ The next night we went on our first date. The next night he asked me to be his boyfriend. The night after that, after a few lychee martinis, he told me he loved me.”

They got engaged in 2015 and married in May 2017 in a Shakespeare-themed ceremony at Bovey Castle in Devon. The couple have a 20-year age gap, something Tom doesn’t mind.

“One thing I learned early on is not to worry about what other people think,” he said The guard in 2018. “That’s been helpful since I’ve been with my husband. I’m 27, he’s 47. People have their opinions, but we don’t notice the age difference. When you fall in love, you fall in love.”

After they got married, Tom and Dustin wanted to become fathers as soon as possible. “As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a parent,” Daley told the Happy mother, happy baby podcasting.

“I think it was the bond with my mom and dad. We were so close. When I lost my dad, I thought, I want to be everything he was to me, I want to be for someone else. Every child deserves to have what I had with my dad. It was such a special relationship, we were so close.”

Tom Daley’s husband Dustin Lance Black and their children, Robbie and Phoenix. Photo: Getty.

In June 2018, the couple welcomed their first son, Robert “Robbie” Ray Black-Daley, via surrogate, a name chosen in tribute to Tom’s late father, Robert Daley.

The diver boasted about his relationship with his son while speaking to HELLO! at The Fashion Awards. “He’s so amazing. He’s three and a half now, almost four. It’s so special to have a little buddy that you can just take with you and do things and see things through a new lens,” Tom said.

“I love doing things that I would never have been able to do without our son. Things that might be a little weird to do as an adult. But when I have my little buddy with me, I can do anything!”

In April 2023, the couple confirmed the birth of their son Phoenix on Instagram.

“PHOENIX ROSE BLACK-DALEY. Our family has grown this past week, we welcomed Phoenix on 3/28/23 and he is just perfect,” Daley wrote.

Although Daley had planned to retire from diving after winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics, he admitted that something his son had done to encourage him to compete in the Paris Olympics had prompted him to take up diving.

Tom Daley and Noah Williams win silver at the Paris Olympics. Photo: Getty.

“There was a video about what it means to be an Olympian, and of course I was crying at the end of it. Robbie turned to me and said, ‘What’s wrong, Dad, what’s wrong?’ I said I missed diving and the Olympics, and Lance looked at me and said, ‘Oh no, I know what this means,’” Daley laughed.

“And Robbie said something like, ‘I want to see you dive in the Olympics.’ And that was that.”

The controversies Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black faced.

The relationship between Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black has not always been smooth sailing. There have been a number of major public controversies.

When Sam Smith won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2016, Smith falsely claimed in his acceptance speech that he was the first openly gay man to win an Oscar. This led to a swift response from Dustin Lance Black, who had won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Milk in 2009.

Black posted a clip of his own Oscar win on Twitter, pointedly addressing the singer: “Hey @SamSmithWorld, if you have no idea who I am, maybe it’s time to stop texting my fiancé.” Oops!

The couple recently came under fire again when Black became involved in a bar brawl in August 2022. CCTV footage from Westminster Magistrates’ Court showed Black having a heated argument with BBC presenter Teddy Edwardes in a Soho bar.

Edwardes accused Black of grabbing her wrist, but the case was eventually dismissed due to inconsistencies in her evidence. The incident reportedly cost the couple £600,000 (over $1 million AUD) and led to Daley and Black deciding to move to Los Angeles with their two children.

Daley described this period as “one of the worst months of our lives,” he wrote in an open letter to his supporters.

Despite these setbacks, the relationship between Daley and Black appears stronger than ever.

Main image: Getty.