My London: Tom Daley

Home is …

Borough Market, just the three of us [with husband, Dustin Lance Black, and three year-old son, Robbie] and two frogs and five fish. And 200 houseplants. It’s quite central but then it has a great sense of community

Where do you recommend for a first date?

We actually went to the Oxo Tower, right by where we live. I’d been there for my 18th birthday, so when Lance said he was coming to London he said, ‘You’re British, you should know where to go.’ I was like, ‘I’m from Plymouth, put me in London and everything is foreign to me.’ But they did a great Lychee Martini.

Which shops do you rely on?

Bermondsey 167, on Bermondsey Street, where I go if I’m stuck for a birthday present. I love St John Bakery on Borough High Street if we’ve got people coming over, and Borough Market for fresh veggies. The haberdashery section in John Lewis — I see things in a shop and then I think, ‘Wait, I can make that,’ but I never get round to it.

Where would you most like to be buried?

Obviously I should say Olympic Park, next to the diving pool. Not sure you could sprinkle it into the water, might be a bit bitty. But might be fun to be buried in Soho in the thick of it.

What would you do if you were Mayor for the day?

Get rid of cars and make people walk and take public transport and make it all electric. I don’t drive here, I’d rather walk 40 minutes than be in a car for 10.

What’s the best thing a cabbie has ever said to you?

They always tell me stories of when they used to dive off rocks on holiday way higher than the Olympic board. I’m like, ‘Sure, well done…’

Where do you go to let your hair down?

Flat Iron Square, which is just opposite from me where Jodie Harsh runs a night, or Mercato Metropolitano, the cool indoor-outdoor market place.

Favourite grooming spot?

Ted’s Grooming Room on a Sunday when it’s a bit dead to get our hair done.

What’s your biggest extravagance?

I don’t really spend much on stuff for myself, but I love to host. Before the pandemic we did Monday Night Dinner Club, and we’d have a core group and then a few others who would be different every week. We’d do table plans so everyone was meeting someone new.

What’s your London secret?

There are two places I love for breakfast: Caravan Bankside, which is right round the corner, and Terry’s café, a small little hole-in-the wall place.

What are you up to for work?

Other than knitting and my audiobook recording, I’m starting a Patreon page. It gives me the ability to have a closer-knit community (see what I did there!). I can post pictures and videos, out-takes, some of my knitting. People can request story times from my life; I can go above and beyond, a little bit more intimate and lots of live things on there.