Matty: ‘Tom taught me how to crochet’
The Olympic diver chats winning gold and eating balls
For most people, 2021 was a bit of a dud year, but not so for Matty Lee. In July, the British diver won gold alongside pro partner Tom Daley at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Then, four months later, he headed to Wales for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, before picking up an MBE in the 2022 New Years Honours list for services to diving. Not bad for a 23 year old, who – this time last year – was still relatively unknown. heat chatted to the Olympian about training hard, winning gold, and how Tom Daley is helping him perfect his cross stitch…
How are you feeling after the madness of the past six months? I still can’t get over it. I was in Manchester before Christmas and people suddenly knew who I was, which was weird. But it makes me feel good. I went straight back to training after I’m A Celeb – I left on a Friday and I was back in training on the Monday. I always seem to jump into the deep end –literally. What’s harder – winning gold at the Olympics or doing a Bushtucker Trial? It depends on the trial! Some of them were horrible. But winning Olympic gold is probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do. It took a lifetime of dedication. But the trials aren’t easy, either! I was most worried about the eating challenges – although, I did have to eat four turkey testicles and they weren’t as bad as I thought. To be fair, if I went on I’m A Celeb and never ate a penis or testicle, I’d feel like I didn’t have the full experience. I’m strangely quite happy about it. Have you incorporated testicles into your training diet? Not quite! Although they’re probably packed with protein. But I’m sticking to the dried fruit. That’s what I’m always snacking on every day. Did Tom vote for you to do all the trials? Yes! He’s so busy, but he did actually watch the show every night. He was the first person to message me when I got voted out to tell me how proud he was of me. Has he taught you any knitting? Well, he taught me how to crochet when we were at training camp – I managed to do a granny square, although I don’t think I could do it now. I was thinking about buying one of his knit kits. I wish I had a hobby like that. Yesterday, he knitted two hats and a headband when we were on a train for two hours. ■
Matty Lee MBE is taking part in the #Eatmoredriedfruit campaign to raise awareness of the health benefits of dried fruit. Just 30g of dried fruit is counted as one of your five a day and contributes to your fibre intake
‘If I didn’t eat a testicle, I’d have missed out’