The British Olympic diver reveals his battle with body image which caused bulimia, admitting he felt 'guilty and shameful' for eating and used to make himself throw up.

• Oct 8, 2021

AceShowbiz - Olympic diving champion Tom Daley has revealed his past battle with bulimia and still has an unhealthy relationship with food.

The first British diver to win four Olympic medals told The Guardian he used to force himself to be sick in 2012, the year of the London Olympics.

"I used to make myself throw up, in 2012. I weigh myself every day," he shared. "I've had a very strange relationship with food and my body image."

"I guess it is a mild form of (eating disorder). Men always seem to not have eating disorders, and it's hard to talk about it. But I would consider myself to be someone that has very much struggled with body image, and eating, and feeling guilty and shameful of the things that I eat."

Tom insisted his issues have nothing to do with public scrutiny but stem from the way he was spoken to during training.

"You have these body issues as an athlete. Lots of people would look at athletes and be like, 'What are you talking about? You're an athlete, you're in shape, you have nothing to worry about...' "

"My body image (issues) came from within my sport - it was hammered into me that I was overweight and needed to lose weight in order to perform."

"But especially as a diver, you're up on the diving board and you're so naked, so visible, so it's quite hard to be content with your body, because you always want to be better."

Tom - who shares three-year-old son Robbie with his Oscar-winning screenwriter husband Dustin Lance Black - admitted some of the photoshoots he took part in when he was younger would now be deemed inappropriate. But he assured fans he never felt "taken advantage of."

"I don't know if there would be shoots of maybe 14-, 15-, 16-year-old boys in their trunks, with water thrown all over them, now. I know there definitely wouldn't be girls doing that," he added.

"It's hard to say what's right and what's wrong. Looking back, it made me feel more mature; I never felt taken advantage of in any way."