They’ve been together since Olympian Tom was 18

Tom Daley is a firm favourite on TV – but who is his famous husband?

The 31-year-old Olympian has been in the public eye for more than 20 years thanks to his diving career. In recent years, he has ventured into the world of telly, appearing on Celebrity Traitors and Game of Wool: Britain’s Best Knitter – which airs on Sunday (November 2).

However, away from the shows, Tom is married to Dustin Lance Back and the pair are proud parents to two sons. But what is their age difference? When did they split? And what was the sexting scandal? Here’s everything you need to know about Tom and Dustin’s romance…


The pair met more than 10 years ago (Credit: CoverImages.com)

Tom Daley and age-gap husband Dustin

Tom’s husband is Hollywood screenwriter and director Dustin Lance Black, aged 51. The pair first met in 2013 at a party and according to Tom it was “love at first sight”.

He later told the Guardian in 2018: “We were already talking about babies and weddings – that was in the first week.”

The same year he met Dustin, Tom bravely came out and revealed he was in a relationship with a man. 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, okay… 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.”


Tom and Dustin are parents to two kids (Credit: YouTube)

Tom met Dustin when he was aged just 18

Tom and Dustin have a significant age gap. Tom was 18 years old when he met Dustin, who was 33 at the time.  Defending the difference in age, Tom previously said: “When you fall in love, you fall in love.”

Meanwhile speaking to US Weekly this year, Tom pointed out that he is the “more mature” person in their relationship.

He said: “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. 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.”


They initially split in 2015 (Credit: CoverImages.com)

Tom’s sexting confession

Things haven’t always been plain sailing for Tom and Dustin. In 2015, they temporarily split and took a seven-month break due to the pressures of maintaining a long-distance romance.

While on a break, Tom admitted that he sent sexually explicit messages to another man, and told Dustin everything when they reconciled.

Addressing the allegations at the time, Tom told The Sun: “This will absolutely never happen again now that we’re getting married. 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, Dustin 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.”

Tom Daley has two children

After getting engaged in 2015, Tom and Dustin made things official and married in Devon in May 2017.

In June 2018, they welcomed their first son – Robert ‘Robbie’ Ray Black-Daley – through surrogacy. Tom and Dustin’s second son – Phoenix Rose Black-Daley – was then born in March 2023.