Five-time Olympic medalist Tom Daley explained how the 19-year age gap between him and his husband, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, has taken on a different shape since the couple first started dating more than a decade ago.
Daley, 31, and Black, 50, got married in 2017 after four years together. In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, the British diving star explained that the couple’s age difference feels smaller by the year.
“One hundred percent,” said Daley, whose life and career are profiled in the new documentary Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds. “It’s funny because the people that know us know that I’m the more mature person that kinds of runs the show in the house.”
The couple share two sons, both welcomed via surrogate: Robbie, 6, and Phoenix, 2.
“As we get older, I think we both align very well on what we want to achieve,” Daley added. “We’re both really big dreamers. I think that was the biggest thing for us, that we’re both so supportive of each other. We don’t limit the other person’s dreams. We really make each other feel like we can achieve whatever we set our minds to.”
Daley, who retired from professional diving after earning a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, recently aligned with Black on a full-time move to Los Angeles from Daley’s native England.
“There were a number of reasons, honestly,” Daley said when asked about the family’s decision to come stateside. “Part of it was the fact that Lance moved to the U.K. for me to be able to do my diving for the longest time. He moved away from his business and his work. ‘Now it’s his turn’ kind of vibe.”
Following his retirement last year, Daley admitted it “still feels weird” to be away from the pool in a professional capacity.
“I watch all the diving competitions,” Daley said. “There’s still part of me that’s like, ‘Oh, I could do that.’ You know what I mean? Like, ‘I could do it better than them. What are they doing? Come on. Is that really all they got?’ There’s still a part of me that’s a bit like, ‘Oof.’”
Still, when asked if there was any chance he might change his mind about retirement, Daley was definitive.
“No, we’re done,” he said.
In the new documentary 1.6 Seconds, Daley emotionally recounts the death of his father, Robert, who died of a brain tumor in 2011, years before Daley started his own family.
“That was part of the reason to do the documentary, for them to be able to have something to look back on and get to know their grandad a little bit,” Daley explained. “Get to know what their papa did with his whole life. I think that’s something that’s really important and one of the reasons the documentary happened in the first place. For my kids.”
In the documentary, Daley is seen splashing around in the family pool with both of his sons. But when it comes to them potentially following in his footsteps, Daley said, “That’s on them.”
“If they want to start diving, they can tell me they want to start diving,” he noted. “But I’m never going to push anything on them that they don’t want to do. So, if they showed interest in it.”
Daley continued, “Robbie doesn’t really show interest in that side of things. Whereas Phoenix is slightly more of a second child. Daredevil, crazy. You know, the feral child. There’s slightly more interest.”
Tom Daley: 1.6 seconds is available to view for free in the United States on Olympics.com/tom.
