Comic Relief star Tom Daley has won a string of medals since he first started to compete in the Olympics.
Medal after medal, the star has managed to win over Britain and become a national hero – a title he will secure all the more after viewers watch him in Hell of a Homecoming.
Tom has taken on an almighty endurance challenge for this year’s Comic Relief.
He rows, cycles, swims and runs his way from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford to his home town of Plymouth.
And tonight’s BBC documentary (Monday, March 14) captures it all – from his 5am start on the first day at the Aquatics Centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where Tom won his first Olympic medal in 2012.
Just nine weeks before filming began, Tom had never been in a rowing boat before, but his challenge begins with a demanding five-mile row all the way to Tower Bridge in central London.
And these are not the extent of his talents… read on to learn just how impressive Tom Daley is!
Who is Tom Daley?
Tom Daley is a British diver and Olympic gold medalist.
The star began diving aged seven years old and started to compete internationally at the age of nine.
In 2008, he represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics, where he was Britain’s youngest competitor.
Since then, Tom Daley has represented Great Britain in a range of diving events from the Olympics to the FINA World Championships.
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After winning a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics, Tom made his debut in television on the ITV celebrity diving show called Splash!
On the show, Tom was a mentor to the celebrity contestants as they trained to dive professionally and compete against each other.
How old is Tom Daley?
Tom Daley was born 21 May, 1994, which makes the British diver 27 years old.
Where is he from?
Tom Daley grew up in Plymouth, Devon.
He started diving as a member of Plymouth Diving Club, where he became recognised for his talent.
Throughout his time on the diving boards, he’s done his hometown Plymouth proud.
Who is Tom Daley married to?
Tom is married to Hollywood film writer and director Dustin Lance Black.
Dustin Lance Black is best known for his screenplay of Milk, where he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2009.
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The pair met in 2013 and soon began dating.
Shortly after, Tom Daley came out as gay on his Youtube channel and announced that he had a boyfriend.
They tied-the-knot in 2017 at a Shakespeare-themed ceremony at Bovey Castle, Devon.
Does he have any children?
In 2018, Tom and Dustin announced the exciting news that they were expecting a baby via surrogacy.
In June that year, they welcomed their son, Robert Ray Black-Daley.
Who is Tom Daley’s surrogate?
The Olympic diver and his husband Dustin have decided to keep the identity of their surrogate private.
However, Dustin explained to Mother & Baby that they feel the surrogate is a part of their family.
He said: “The biggest surprise for me was I didn’t realise your surrogate really becomes part of of your family. Some of that is the process you go through.
“We will always be in contact with the surrogate and he [Robbie] will know her. There should be no shame around surrogacy.”
What happened to Tom Daley’s dad?
In 2011, Tom Daley’s father Rob sadly died of a brain tumour at the age of 40.
Speaking on This Morning, Tom said: “I found it really difficult to process that I was never going to see him again.
“Although I knew he was sick and was going to pass away at some point, when it actually happened it was so horrible to think about.
“I couldn’t let it sink in that he wasn’t going to see me in London 2012 because it was something we had always dreamed of doing together. So it was a very challenging thing to try and overcome.”
Tom and Dustin chose to name their son Robbie, who is now three, after him.
Tom Daley’s partnership with Matty Lee
Tom Daley and Matty Lee were diving partners for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The pair went on to win gold in the mens 10m synchronised platform, which sent the nation into a frenzy.
Over the years, Tom Daley and Matty Lee have become extremely close.
However, they had to change partners this year after Tom decided to take a year out from the sport.
Matty Lee admitted to The Express that it’s difficult being without his partner Tom.
He said: “Tom’s taken a year out now and not having him around is tough.
“There’s no one I can relate to at the moment and it can be lonely but you just have to get through.”
How many diving medals does he have?
The British diver has four Olympic medals in total.
Tom Daley won a gold medal with his partner Matty Lee in the men’s synchronised 10 meter platform event at the 2020 Olympics.
He also achieved a bronze medal at the 2012 platform event, the 2016 synchronised event and the 2020 platform event.
Why does Tom Daley knit?
Talking to Out, Tom Daley said that his viral knitting skills were actually inspired by his husband Dustin Lance Black.
He said: “It was actually Lance who said that, on set, people will knit squares just to pass the time and I was like ‘OK I’ll try that’. So I started trying it, and fell in love with it and here we are.”
The star also explained that he knits to calm his nerves.
“When I say I’m obsessed with knitting, I was knitting on the way, on the bus to the pool, on the bus home from the pool, in the stands, whenever I had a spare moment,” he explained. “While other boys in our apartment were playing video games, I would just sit and knit. I’d wake up and if I had time to sit and knit, I would just continually knit.”
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How to follow him on Instagram
Tom Daley posts regularly on his Instagram @tomdaley.
The star loves to post about his diving and, of course, show off his impressive knitting skills.
In a recent post, he shared a video of him and his mates wearing hats that Tom has knitted.
He captioned it: “When you stitch your mates up for a ski trip…”
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