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Tom Daley reveals how he came out to his mum

By Will Stroude

Tom Daley has shared how he came out to his mother in an interview with The Times.

The Olympic diver came out to the world via video message back in 2013, but hadn’t previously shared details about his experiences coming out to his friends and family.

Thankfully it seems as though it was a painless process.

“My mum had no idea”, the 22-year old said. “It was just a random conversation. We were having a barbecue at my house, Lance was making burgers and I was in the kitchen.”

“I said to Mum, ‘What do you think of Lance?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, he’s great. He makes great burgers.’ So I told her I was in a relationship with him.

“She said, ‘Like a gay relationship?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ And she said, ‘Oh… all right.’

“She had no idea, despite the fact I’d brought this guy home for the weekend. I was lucky. It was so easy, and you hear some horror stories.”

tom-daley

Tom, who flew out to Brazil this week ahead of the start of the Rio Olympics next month, also spoke about being bullied in school for being gay, before he understood his sexuality himself.

“I always thought people called me gay just because that’s what you do”, the London 2012 silver-medallist told The Times.

“I don’t think it was linked to my sexuality. It happens all the time to everyone at school”.

“If someone doesn’t give you a bit of their chocolate bar, you say, ‘Oh, don’t be gay.’ It’s not used to attack you”.

“It’s the same with people on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. It doesn’t really bother me. I’m quite thick-skinned.”

Meanwhile. it’s been revealed that Tom will be the subject of an upcoming ITV documentary ahead of Rio 2016, offering a ‘intimate’ look at his life, work, and relationship with fiancé Dustin Lance Black – click here to find out more.

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