Tom Daley Gets Candid On Fame, Fatherhood And His Closeted Past In New Documentary

In “1.6 Seconds,” the British Olympian reflects on his journey to living his queer truth while dropping hints at his future.

As a young diver, Tom Daley never imagined he’d one day feel confident enough to share specifics of his personal life with fans. That changed in 2013, when the British Olympic diver came out as gay in a YouTube video.

Twelve years later, Daley gets even more candid in a new documentary, “Tom Daley: 1.6 Seconds.” Released this month on Discovery+ and Olympics.com in the U.S. and on HBO Max elsewhere, the film finds the now-retired athlete reflecting on his rise to fame, his path toward living as his true self and his relationships with his husband of eight years, screenwriter and filmmaker Dustin Lance Black, and his late father, Robert Daley.

“It’s weird when somebody comes to you and says, ‘We want to make a documentary about your life.’ I was a little bit hesitant to start with, because ... what do I even have to say? What do I want to say?” Daley told HuffPost in an interview. “But the more I got into what was going on beneath the surface when I was growing up ... the fact that my kids are going to be able to understand a bit more about what their papa did ... it felt like therapy.”

Admirers of Daley’s aquatic prowess won’t be disappointed by “1.6 Seconds,” the title of which alludes to his gold medal win in the men’s synchronized 10-meter platform at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, held in 2021. While working on the film, director Vaughan Sivell pored through hours of archival footage showing Daley training for childhood competitions and, later, his four Olympic Games.

In fact, Daley himself hadn’t watched many of the videos before he sat down to provide his on-camera commentary. He can be seen tearing up after some particularly emotional clips, some of which include his father, who died of cancer in 2011 at age 40.