This interview discusses eating disorders.
“Art was never my forte,” star diver and Olympic Gold winner Tom Daley tells GLAMOUR as he sits down at table complete with an easel and paints. His task is to paint a self-portrait while fielding our Beauty of Pride questions.
He ambles into GLAMOUR HQ wearing one of his own Reiss collab crochet co-ord sets, perfect for a man who is now known for his love of knitting as much as his sports accolades.
When we meet, his latest documentary 1.6 Seconds (referring to the total time it takes for a diver to reach the water from a 10-metre platform or diving board) is about to drop. As well as outlining his journey to the ultimate sporting success, it explores Tom's grief at losing his dad, who died of brain cancer in 2011 just months before the 2012 London Olympics began, where Tom would win his first medal.
She opened up to GLAMOUR about her eclectic fragrance personality, radical beauty moves and mental health hacks.
He also opens up about his struggles with an eating disorder and eventual redefinition of what success ultimately means to him as he approached competing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and his final Olympic Games, Paris 2024.
“I started to have shifts in perspective of what actually matters most in life,” Tom tells GLAMOUR. "By the time I got to Tokyo, once I was a husband, once I was a father, I started to realise that I was more than just an athlete… I stopped putting all of my self-worth and self-esteem into how well I did in the pool or not.”
He describes how liberating this was. “I was then able to stand on the diving board and know that regardless of how well or not I did in the competition, I was going to go home to a husband and kids that love me regardless. And I think that was something that really, really changed the trajectory of the rest of my diving career.”
As a queer beauty icon – in 2022 he became Rimmel London's first ever global male ambassador, and the face of the brand's Match Perfection foundation – Tom is first up to participate in our Beauty of Pride series for 2025.
He gets real with GLAMOUR about all kinds: how past gendered portrayals of eating disorders prevented him from seeking help, his work on spotlighting countries that have outlawed gay marriage and who his ultimate Pride icon is.
In the documentary you said you ‘thought men didn’t have eating disorders’ how important was it to you to speak out about your experience and male body image more widely?
Tom: Lots of athletes really struggle with body image because our bodies are used as our vessel to be able to do the sport that we love. If you're constantly trying to perfect your machine, but you're never quite able to get it right there and you are told that your machine is too big or too small or not the right size, not the right weight, it's not strong enough, it really can weigh quite heavy on you because you want to be better.
I got into a situation where I didn't have the support around me to know how to change anything about my body, and I really struggled with an eating disorder silently for quite a long time because I didn't think that men had eating disorders. It wasn't something that men talked about.
I felt so out of control. If I ever said it out loud, I knew [I'd feel] silly, but I couldn't get myself out of that headspace. There were so many things that were going on in my life then. I'd just lost my dad, I was coming to terms with who I was and figuring out whether I was going to come out as gay. I was building towards the Olympics. There were so many things going on that it felt like I didn't want to burden anyone else with it. I think if anyone takes anything away from the documentary, it's to not suffer through any of that alone.
You also made your Illegal To Be Me documentary, which centred around countries where gay marriage is illegal. What was important to you to bring out of making that?
Tom: It was a very difficult and very eye-opening documentary to make because it made me feel incredibly grateful and lucky to be living in the UK where being gay is not criminalised, but traveling to countries, for example, in Jamaica and Pakistan, and meeting other athletes where they fear for their life every single day and what might happen if they were outed was really quite shocking.
I think lots of people in the UK may not understand the impact of that in those countries where it is still illegal to be gay.
Tom Daley's Beauty of Pride Q&A:
Why is it important to you to use your platform as a member of the LGBTQ+ community?
Tom: I think using your platform, whether that's on social media or just being generally visible is important because there are so many people within the LGBT community that aren't as lucky in terms of being out and being truly authentically themselves.
I'm really glad that I vlogged so much of my diving competitions 'cause I can go back and see all of those competitions and really relive it whenever I want to. I think that's something that's quite special about social media.
Why do you think makeup and beauty is so important to so many members of the LGBTQ+ community?
Tom: It allows you to express yourself in any way you want. It's the same with fashion, it's the same with makeup, whatever it may be. Being able to express yourself and how you feel is important. I think that can be anything, whether you're painting your face, painting your nails, or painting a canvas.
What's the most radical thing you have done in the name of beauty?
Tom: I don't know if I've done anything all too radical, but I would say... I really don't think I've done anything too crazy. I like to paint my nails, but that's not really that radical.
What kind of colour would you go for?
Tom: I like doing silver chrome. Having black with chrome on the top, I don't know, I feel like it's quite chic to do that.
Your beauty cabinet catches fire. What are the three products you save?
Tom: I'm going to save my sunscreen, and my gel globes… First thing in the morning, they're so nice to just rub on your eyes and your face. So it's like a nice little ice-cold massage in the morning, which is lovely. And I'll say a vitamin C serum.
Growing up, what was your relationship with your hair and makeup?
Tom: I definitely had the stereotype that makeup wasn't for men. And then it was only really as I got older and realised that, oh, any man that steps out onto a red carpet, any man that you see that is on TV is wearing makeup. Even the butchest, manly men, they are wearing makeup.
So I think that's something that I think lots of people have maybe a misconception about. Maybe more people know [now] than I did when I was younger.
What is one rule that you live by to take care of your mental wellbeing?
Tom: Be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up about making mistakes, because if you get worried about making mistakes, you'll never try new things and you'll never push yourself to try anything new. It's how you become a better person.
What’s your best clapback against current beauty standards?
Tom: There shouldn't necessarily be standards because everybody's idea of beauty is different. So I think the idea of having beauty standards is a challenge. Coming up with your own beauty standards and being as happy as you can be within yourself is a superpower.
I struggled for a long time with being able to feel comfortable in my own skin, whether that was with who I was, growing up gay, or being an athlete. There's so many elements to it where you're always trying to chase what you think you want when actually sometimes just taking a moment to be grateful for what you have is important too.
What’s the best beauty hack you’ve ever learnt and from who?
Tom: When leaving the house, a great makeup artist once told me, "A little bit of tinted moisturiser goes a long way."
Who would you say is your Pride icon?
Tom: I'd say someone like a Greg Louganis, who's one of the goats within the diving world. He's done so incredibly well and he had to deal with his diving career as a closeted athlete because it was definitely not accepted to be a gay athlete when he was coming up through in the '80s.
How has beauty and makeup helped your personal identity?
Tom: I enjoy and look forward to it... Even just taking the time to do skincare, there's something pampering and relaxing about it. A routine and a ritual, almost. Every morning when I wake up, I have my toddler, Phoenix, grabbing at my leg while I'm there trying to use my globe rollers on my face and trying to wake up and he's there screaming for porridge.
If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health, you can contact Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677 or beateatingdisorders.org.uk.
1.6 Seconds is available to watch on discovery+.
