Agony of Olympic star Tom
OLYMPIC diver Tom Daley has described holding his father’s hand when he died, and how he was left without his “biggest cheerleader”.
The sports star, who was 17 at the time, said he thought his dad Robert was “invincible” until the moment of his death at 40 from brain cancer.
It was a year before Daley competed at the 2012 London Olympics.
On Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs today, he recalls being called back from Fort Lauderdale in Florida by his mother when she knew his father had just a few days left to live.
He tells stand-in host Lauren Laverne: “I get home and I see my dad in a hospital bed in the living room. As the days went by his condition started to deteriorate.
“And, you know, one of the last things he said to me was: ‘Do we have our tickets yet?’ I thought, ‘Tickets for what?’ And he said: ‘Those London 2012 tickets, because I want to be right on the front row’.
“And I was like, ‘Oh my goodness’, because I didn’t know how to say to him, ‘You’re not going to be around to be on the front row, Dad’.”
Daley said the following day family and friends gathered around as his father lay unconscious.
He added: “We were watching his chest. I was holding his hand as he stopped breathing.
“It wasn’t until he was dead that I acknowledged that he wasn’t invincible, that he wasn’t going to teach me to drive, to fill up my first pint, to be able to watch me win an Olympic medal, to see me get married, to see me have a kid.
“I was 17, my brother was 15 and my younger brother was 12. That’s such a young age to lose a parent and a big, big adjustment to not have your biggest cheerleader with you anymore.”
Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black welcomed their first child, born to a surrogate, in June. They named him Robert Ray after Daley’s father.
LOVE Islander Hayley Hughes claims her infamous TV Brexit chat was edited to make her look dopey.
The Scouser, 21, stunned viewers when she asked if leaving the EU would mean we wouldn’t have any trees.
But she told the Daily Star Sunday: “There were conversations viewers didn’t see. I wasn’t just sitting there saying Brexit would affect the trees – there was more to it.
“Obviously, the show is only an hour long and they have to clip it down. So what I was saying didn’t make sense. It looked like I’d just come out with anything.
“I didn’t realise that conversation would become a big thing. You talk about anything in the villa because you have got so much time to spare.
“I got so much judgment even though I said what everybody else was thinking. I don’t think many people have a clue about Brexit.”
Since leaving Love Island Hayley has been invited on to a number of politics shows.
And she met Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage to learn more about our EU exit.
Hayley said: “I’ve been educated on it a bit. I kind of have a better understanding of Brexit, but not fully. So I still can’t really comment on it. But that’s in the past now. I want to put all of that behind me. I’ve been there and done it. I’ve learned what I can about it.”
After calling time on her political education, Hayley is enjoying the showbiz lifestyle.
Last week she partied with her Love Island co-stars at the glitzy National Reality TV Awards where the show won three categories.
Hayley said: “It’s been overwhelming. It takes time to get your head around stuff.
“This has been a big change from my previous life. You can’t prepare yourself for it but I’m enjoying the rollercoaster.
“I’m open to any opportunities that come to me. I won’t say no.”