Tom Daley has regularly spoken about LGBTQ+ rights throughout the years which is why he’s a public figure that everyone can look up to.

In an exclusive interview with BBC Breakfast's Sally Nugent, Daley talks about getting that gold medal, his late father, how his son has changed his perspective, and his favourite hobby - knitting. And Tokyo? “Tokyo was, for me, the pinnacle of all the Olympics, all the experiences that led up to that moment and being able to do that,” he says. “For me, that was still the most special one.” His dream craft projectIt was actually Lance who said that on set, people will knit squares just to pass the time and I was like: OK, I'll try that. So I started trying it, and fell in love with it and here we are.

Tom Daley’s poolside knitting at the Olympics captured our hearts last year and we’ll soon be able to join him in his wonderland of wool with the help of his new guidebook. Often lots of people get quite sad when they think about the parents they've lost, but for me, it just makes me so happy and proud to have done what we had always dreamed of doing. While the other boys in our apartment were playing video games, I would just sit and knit. I'd wake up and if I had time to sit and knit, I would just continually knit. It’s fair to say that Daley has lived a pretty full life for someone who is still under the age of 30. His energetic-yet- chilled demeanour is infectious in person and during this pivotal year, he effuses the wisdom and clarity of someone who has really been able to take time for themselves and learn what they want. Despite the highs and lows he’s been through from childhood to adulthood – all while in the public eye – Daley is remarkably grounded and measured. He takes a while to think about why this might be. Summer 2021 saw Tom compete in the Tokyo Olympics where he won his first Olympic gold medal alongside his diving partner Matty Lee in the 10m synchro event. Followed by a bronze medal in the 10m individual event, Tom is the most decorated British diver of all time.NADWORNY: It feels kind of wild because, like, you're a diver. Like, did you ever think that you would be, like, running a knitting business? DALEY: And honestly, all you really need to get is some yarn, some knitting needles, and you'll be able to make a scarf by the end of it. Knitlympics: Knit Your Favourite Sports Star by Carol Meldrum is published by Collins & Brown. Photographs by Holly Jolliffe. Robbie is the most important thing in my life and when you have that kind of perspective, when you go to training, you can enjoy it for what it is. You know you're going to go home and being a parent is number one. It shifted the way I thought about it. With less than two years to go before the Summer Olympics, Tom Daley knows time’s running out on deciding whether to participate in his fifth games or not.

I think those kind of lessons that he has taught me about being a parent. I now understand. And I have a whole new level of appreciation for my parents." Daley on... his son TOM DALEY: Yes. Honestly, it was - when I first started knitting, I had no idea of the impact that it was going to have. He’s a bit young at the moment to properly do it, but he wants to learn,” he says. “That would be the dream, to sit together on the sofa and be knitting all afternoon, I’d love that.” Rio in 2016 was his most difficult because he thought he was going to be at his best. "Then it didn’t quite turn out as I wanted,” Daley says. He never, ever got to see me win any of my Olympic medals. He got to see me compete in Beijing, but he wasn't around for London 2012, Rio or Tokyo. I think he would be extremely proud to think that I have not only got four Olympic medals, but one of them is a gold.Olympic gold medal–winning diver and beloved LGBTQ icon Tom Daley offers thirty exclusive knitting and crocheting patterns to enjoy and share. It will include 30 projects from ‘gifts to chic homeware, cosy accessories and stylish wardrobe essentials’ so we’ll be knitting willy warmers in no time.

Knitting brought Daley so much joy that during a meeting with his team in 2021 to make post-Olympic plans, Daley spelled out his hopes. ‘I was like, “Honestly, I just want to sit on the beach with a margarita and be a knitwear designer.” They said, “Ha ha, okay,” and I was like, “No, really.”’ Although this is Tom’s debut craft book, he published a memoir in 2021, titled Coming Up for Air, which detailed his early sporting career and experience of publicly coming out as gay.I think the pandemic opened everyone’s eyes that everybody struggles in a certain way, which is good that now people are starting to open up,” he says. 'Made with Love' and advice for his son At the time, travelling around with my dad, I used to find it so embarrassing. He used to do such silly things, like bursting in on press conferences, doing all these things. I thought it was extremely embarrassing. When it came time to compete in the 2020 Olympics (held in Tokyo in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic), his newfound hobby helped “save” him from overthinking, he says. What’s helped him manage the stress, he says, is knitting, a pastime his husband first suggested he try.