Tom Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black are doting parents to two sons, Robbie, born in 2018, and Phoenix, born in 2023. The Celebrity Traitors star admitted he has no plans to expand his family further, telling HELLO!: "Family of four is good!".
However, Tom and Dustin are not shy about gushing over their brood, with Tom being open about his excitement about becoming a father. "I've always wanted to be a dad. When I was coming to terms with my sexuality, that [not having children] was the one thing that really upset me, and I didn't know what the options were as same-sex parents. Once I started to research some of the options, I then realised that having a family would be possible. I've been collecting baby clothes and all sorts for the past six years... before I even met Lance!" he joked to Mother & Baby. See everything you need to know about Tom and Dustin's two adorable children…
Tom's parenting comments
© Ryan Browne/ShutterstockBefore the diving champion and his partner, Noah Williams, secured a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Tom admitted his ultimate goal was to share the experience with his sons. "For me, my Olympic gold medal at this time is having my kids there to watch," the doting dad said. Tom's kids were pictured in the audience with his husband Dustin, with Robbie even wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words: "That's my papa."
When HELLO! asked the father-of-two if he'd want his kids to follow in his footsteps, he mused: "I want to be led by what they want to do. The way that you can be your happiest is finding something you're passionate about, that you love to do, and then make it something that you do every day. That's my hope for them."
Robbie, 7
Opening up about his own upbringing and how that impacted his desire for a family, Tom said on the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast: "For as long as I could remember, I have wanted to be a parent. I think because of the relationship with my mum and dad, we were so close and then, when I lost my dad, it was like, I want to be everything that he was to me to someone else, because every child deserves to have what I had with my dad, because it was such a special relationship, we were so close."
© InstagramAs a tribute to his late father, who died from a brain tumour in 2011, Tom named his eldest child Robert Ray Black-Daley. Robbie was born on 27 June 2018 via a surrogate. While the couple have remained private about their family, Tom has shared snippets of information about his son. Speaking exclusively to HELLO! at The Fashion Awards, Tom gushed over his son, describing him as his "little buddy".
"He's so amazing. He's three and a half now, coming up four. It's so special to have a little buddy that you can just take with you to do things and see things through a new set of eyes", said Tom. "I'm loving doing things I would have never been able to do without our son - things that perhaps may look a bit weird doing as an adult - but if I take my little buddy along I can get away with anything!"
© InstagramTom's two sons often appear in his YouTube vlogs, but his eldest son Robbie is almost becoming a star in his own right. "Kids growing up now in the age of social media, that's what they see as the norm," Tom told HELLO!. "Robbie's got a lot of personality, but there's also a part of me, with everything I went through as a kid, I want to protect him as much as possible from that or support him through what that looks like."
Phoenix, 2
© InstagramThe couple confirmed the birth of their son Phoenix in The Times in April 2023, surprising fans since they had not announced they were expecting another child. Tom took to Instagram to share their first photos of their newborn, who was cuddled in his lap while Robbie looked on. Captioning the post, the father-of-two wrote: "PHOENIX ROSE BLACK-DALEY. Our family has grown in the last week, we welcomed Phoenix to the world on 28/03/23 and he's just perfect." Of how his eldest son was feeling, he sweetly remarked: "Robbie is loving being a BIG BRO!"
Dustin shared a similar family photo showing Robbie kissing his baby brother alongside the message: "And then there were four. Our second son, Phoenix Rose Black-Daley, arrived at 3:34pm on March 28, 2023."
Phoenix showed off his boisterous personality at the Olympics. While Tom was being interviewed about his silver medal, he grimaced as the little boy threw his juice cup from above. Laughing, Tom said: "Most importantly, I just want to go and squish my little ones."
The sports star admitted his decision to compete again and make a U-turn on his retirement was driven by his kids. After striking gold at Tokyo with his diving partner Matty Lee, Tom admitted he was ready to step away from the sport until his son said it was his dream to watch him compete in the Olympic Games. "There was this video of what it means to be an Olympian, and of course, by the end of it, I was crying, and Robbie turned to me and said, 'What's the matter, Papa, what's the matter?' I said I missed diving and I missed the Olympics, and Lance looked at me and said, 'Oh no, I know what this means'.
"And Robbie was like, 'I want to see you dive at the Olympics'. And that was that," he said.
© InstagramTom shared an insight into his kids' different personalities as he discussed their travels to Paris, describing Robbie as an "adult" while Phoenix is "wriggly."
"Luckily, it was a night flight, so Robbie, who travels all the time, was fine because he's six now, so he's a bit more like an adult. Phoenix, however, is very much the second child – wriggly, wants to climb everything, jump on everything. He was quiet but I had to like wrangle him the whole time," he said.
