How Olympic Diver Tom Daley's Husband Dustin Lance Black Helped Him Recover from His Father's Death (Exclusive) 

Tom Daley, 31, faced unimaginable nonaccomplishment erstwhile his begetter and biggest supporter, Robert Daley, passed distant astatine property 40 aft nan Olympic diver had conscionable turned 17 years old. 

In nan aftermath of that grief, diving — erstwhile a passion they shared — became a lonely and isolating experience. For years, nan five-time Olympian felt he had to put connected a “brave face” and look for illustration everything was okay, erstwhile internally he felt nan opposite. 

However, gathering his soon-to-be husband, Dustin Lance Black, successful 2013 changed everything. It taught him that vulnerability doesn’t equate to weakness and that diving shouldn’t beryllium nan only point that defines him. 

“I deliberation it was realizing that erstwhile you meet your person, you benignant of person to person to beryllium capable to beryllium susceptible and stock your thoughts and feelings,” Daley tells PEOPLE exclusively. 

After losing his begetter successful May 2011 to encephalon cancer, nan diver felt unsocial successful his experience. Not knowing who to confide in, Daley unconsciously went into “autopilot.” 

“I don’t cognize what I was reasoning but I went to training nan adjacent day, I went to nan nationalist championships 10 days later,” he reveals successful his caller documentary 1.6 Seconds. “I conscionable kept going because I didn’t cognize thing else. I didn’t person thing aliases anyone else. I was alone.”

Daley coped by suppressing his emotions, pushing speech his condolences to attraction wholly connected diving. He immersed himself successful nan sport, utilizing its building and strength arsenic a measurement to debar nan symptom he wasn’t fresh to confront.

“I deliberation my measurement of doing it was compartmentalizing everything and benignant of for illustration shoving it to 1 broadside without really reasoning astir it properly,” Daley says. 

“So for me, that was thing that I recovered to beryllium a struggle, but erstwhile I sewage into nan plaything of it and was capable to really commencement opening up and talking astir things, learning that it's okay to struggle and that you're not a load erstwhile you offload those struggles onto different people.”

Shortly aft winning his first badge astatine nan London 2012 Olympics, Daley met Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black astatine a meal statement successful 2013. 

That aforesaid year, Daley publically revealed that he was bisexual successful a YouTube video. The brace later sewage joined successful 2017 astatine Bovey Castle successful Devon, not acold from Daley’s hometown of Plymouth.

He says pinch Black arsenic his “sounding board,” he felt grounded and safe to definitive himself erstwhile more. 

“I was realizing that location was truthful overmuch of my life that I had unopen down conscionable to beryllium capable to cope, that it was really typical to person personification that could bring retired that broadside of you,” he tells PEOPLE.

Unfortunately, nan 2016 Rio Olympics marked what Daley branded an “all-time low” successful his diving career. Going successful expecting a golden medal, he alternatively came distant pinch bronze successful nan men's synchronized 10m level event.

Overwhelmed by nan thought that his difficult activity mightiness ne'er lead to opinionated astatine nan apical of nan podium, Daley was connected nan brink of tears. Black helped him spot beyond nan disappointment and reconnect pinch nan bigger picture.

“He said to me: ‘Your communicative doesn’t extremity here. This isn’t complete for you. Maybe you weren’t meant to triumph an Olympic golden badge present successful Rio because your early kid was meant to spot you triumph an Olympic golden medal,’ ” Daley recalls successful nan doc.

Since then, Daley and Black person built a family together, welcoming 2 sons via surrogate — Robbie successful 2018 and Phoenix successful 2023. Robbie was named successful grant of Daley’s precocious father. 

After different 4 years of training, Daley and his partner Matty Lee won golden successful nan men's synchronized 10m level diving arena astatine nan Tokyo Olympics successful 2021. He besides won a bronze successful nan individual 10m platform.

Daley past took metallic successful nan men’s synchronized 10-meter level astatine nan 2024 Paris Olympics, pinch his hubby and sons proudly cheering from nan stands.

“He fell successful emotion pinch a athletics that had some beauty and athleticism. A athletics wherever he could believe his perfectionism,” Black says successful nan documentary. “A athletics that takes spot successful 1.6 seconds and successful that time, a myriad of things person to hap right.”

Feeling contented and proud of his diving profession — he competed successful a full of 5 Olympic games and won 1 gold, 1 metallic and 3 bronze medals — Daley retired successful 2024 to attraction connected being a hubby and father.

“Once you find that person, it really does thief displacement nan measurement that you tin woody pinch everything,” Daley tells PEOPLE.

1.6 Seconds is now streaming connected Max globally and on olympics.com in nan U.S.