Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black first met in 2013 (Image: Getty)
The Traitors returns to our screens on Wednesday evening and, for the first time ever in the UK version of the show, those entering the castle will be famous faces from the worlds of sport, entertainment, music and more.
Following the same format as the civilian version of the hit BBC programme, the spin-off will see 19 celebrities become either ‘Faithfuls’ or, in the case of some, ‘Traitors’. It is the job of the Traitors to work together to ‘murder’ the other contestants without being detected, with the Faithfuls tasked with successfully identifying and ‘banishing’ the Traitors by voting them out.
Members of the cast for the first celebrity series include comedian and TV presenter Alan Carr, singer Charlotte Church and stage and screen actress Celia Imrie. Representing the world of sport, meanwhile, is former England rugby player Joe Marler and Olympic diver Tom Daley.
The 31-year-old shot to fame nearly 20 years ago, when he scooped the 2007 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award at the tender age of 13. The following year, he became Team GB’s youngest competitor at the Beijing Olympics, and went on to win five Olympic medals – including one gold – across five separate Games.
Daley’s success at such a young age quickly made him a household name and, while he retired from diving last year following the Paris Olympics, there is still a lot of interest in his life away from the pool, with over 1.2 million people subscribed to his YouTube channel alone. From his age-gap marriage to an Oscar winner to his huge net worth, here’s what you need to know.
Famous husband and 20-year age gap
In 2013, Daley met his future husband, Hollywood screenwriter and director Dustin Lance Black, at a party, with their first meeting proving to be, in his words, “love at first sight”.
The Olympian has since admitted he had “no idea” who Black was when they first met – despite him winning an Oscar four years earlier for writing the film Milk – but felt the chemistry between them immediately. After giving him his phone number, Daley received a text from Black the following day and the pair soon started dating.
Later that year, Daley told the world that he was in a relationship with a man, admitting it had taken him by surprise having previously dated girls. In a YouTube video, he said: “In spring this year, my life changed massively when I met someone, and they make me feel so happy, so safe and everything just feels great. That someone is a guy.”
He added: “It did take me by surprise a little bit. It was always in the back of my head that something like that could happen. But it wasn’t until spring this year that something just clicked.
“It felt right and I thought ‘OK’. And my whole world changed there and then. Of course I still fancy girls but right now I’m dating a guy and I couldn’t be happier.”
He later opened up to the Guardian about his whirlwind romance with Black, explaining: “It was a real love at first sight thing.The first night I took him to meet my friends [eight weeks after meeting] and said: ‘This is my boyfriend’.
“The next night we went on our first date. The next night, after a couple of lychee martinis, he told me he loved me. He extended his trip. We were already talking about babies and weddings – that was in the first week.”
Black cheered on Daley at last year’s Paris Olympics (Image: Getty)
After getting engaged in 2015, the couple married in Devon in May 2017, and they welcomed their first son – Robert ‘Robbie’ Ray Black-Daley – through surrogacy the following summer. Their second son – Pheonix Rose Black-Daley – was born in March 2023.
There is a significant age gap between the couple, with Daley just 18 years old when he met Black, who was 38 at the time. Even with a gap of 19 years, 11 months between them, however, the diving star has always defended the difference in age between himself and his husband, saying simply: “When you fall in love, you fall in love”.
He also told US Weekly that despite him being significantly younger than his husband, he was the “more mature” person in their relationship.
“It’s funny because the people that know us know that I’m the more mature person that kind of runs the show in the house,” Daley said, before adding: “As we get older, I think we both align very well on what we want to achieve.
“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.”
However, it has not always been smooth sailing, as in 2015 they temporarily split, taking a seven-month break from each other after struggling with their long-distance relationship. In that time, Daley confessed to sending sexually explicit messages to another man, later revealing he had told Black everything after they reconciled.
“This will absolutely never happen again now that we’re getting married,” he said as he addressed the allegations. “The date is set, and we’re raring and ready to go for that wedding now.
“We don’t have secrets in our relationship. We’re honest and open about everything. When we were back together I told him everything. I’m 22 years old, and if you talk to someone through social media it is what it is. It was nothing more than that. We never physically met.”
Meanwhile, Black said: “Tom and I talked about anything and everything that went on. That’s the secret to how we are so close and can survive tough times.”
Daley shot to fame as a 12-year-old (Image: Getty)
Ex-girlfriend
Daley has admitted that falling in love with Black took him by surprise, having previously only been in relationships with girls.
In fact, the diving star had a girlfriend just a few months before meeting the Oscar winner. In an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, he said: “People say ‘why did he have a girlfriend last year?’ Well, because I had a girlfriend last year.”
“It wasn’t until spring this year, it came upon me,” he added. “I didn’t expect it and it happened. Everything kind of clicked, everything went right.”
Admitting that he was surprised by his feelings, Daley added that he did not want to label himself as gay or bisexual.
“It was the fact I was falling for a guy and it happened so quickly,” he explained. “To be honest, everything is all pretty new and I don’t see any point in putting a label on it.”
Huge net worth
As one of Great Britain’s golden boys, Daley has accumulated a sizeable personal fortune since shooting to fame as a child.
While he didn’t receive any prize money for any of the five Olympic medals he won under Team GB rules, he is still estimated to have a net worth of around £3.1 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
In an interview with Chris Moyles on Radio X, Daley opened up on what he was paid while representing Team GB at international competitions, explaining the wage structure and admitting he earned less than £30,000 a year despite making it to the podium.
“It depends on how good you are,” he said. “There are tiers so if you qualify for the major of the year then you get a certain amount and if you come in the top eight you get more.
“Then if you win an Olympic medal you get to the top tier which I think is twenty-seven a year.”
However, he added that he was able to earn a decent living through sponsorships and endorsements, having worked with major companies including Adidas and Etihad Airways in the past.
“I’m really fortunate to have had the sponsors and that kind of stuff,” he continued. “That’s kind of part of the reason why you see athletes doing brand partnerships. But not everyone gets the opportunity to do that, which is why athletes probably need more support in that sense.”
