Tom Daley: I was glad I inspired a man to come out, but I found out he had a wife and three kids!
Speaking about his sexuality for the first time since coming out, Tom Daley has explained his reasons for doing so.
Daley revealed that he is in a same-sex relationship last year in a video posted on YouTube.
In an interview with the Sun today, which was guest edited by James Corden, Daley said he “didn’t want to hide any more.”
The Olympic diver said: “I didn’t want to be constantly questioned about it, asked about it. I just though, ‘You know what? I’m happy’ – and that’s why I did it.”
Talking about concerns by peers over sponsorship deals to do with the fact that he has a boyfriend, Daley said it shouldn’t matter.
“Everyone has been so supportive, everyone has been so nice about it, but some people were saying to me, ‘You’ve got to think about what it is going to do to your career. What’s going to happen if all of a sudden you don’t get any sponsorship?’
“It doesn’t matter because I’m a diver and that’s what I want to do, and that won’t affect my diving in any way, shape or form,” he continued.
Going on, the ‘Splash’ star, said: “I was at the point where I thought, ‘You know, who cares?’ I just didn’t want to feel I had to hide, or when I went out to dinner have to bring lots of people. It always had to be a group dinner.”
Referring to his boyfriend Dustin Lance Black, he said: “I wanted to be able to go out, have dinner with him.”
Discussing the mother of a fan who said he came out after being inspired by him, Daley said he was told: “‘I’d just like to thank you because you inspired my son, when he saw your video it inspired him to tell me he was gay.’ And I was like, ‘Oh wow! Oh my god. Tell him I said hi and good job,’ and all that kind of stuff…”
He added: “And she was like, ‘Yeah, but he does have a wife and three children.’ And I was like, ‘Oh s**t.'”
He said he also attracted quite a lot of unwanted attention since coming out, saying: “You do get some people who just come up to you and offer it there and then. Like, literally. Some people come up to me and say, ‘Do you want to go back?’ And I’m like, ‘What do you mean? The whole reason I did this was because I have a boyfriend’.”
