Tom Daley has said he intends to have children with his Hollywood film-maker fiance Dustin Lance Black.

The 22-year-old champion diver talked about his dreams of parenthood during a guest editing stint at The Sun.

“It’s not a question of ‘if’ – just ‘when’,” he wrote. “I’ve always said I’ll keep diving as long as my body lets me, but the beauty of being an athlete is you retire young and you’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”

Tom Daley with his Olympic bronze medal (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)
Tom Daley with his Olympic bronze medal (Anna Gowthorpe/PA)

Tom added: “Once I’ve finished with diving there are going to be other avenues I’d like to explore. Family has always been a massive thing to us. It’s what we want.”

The Plymouth-born star will compete for Great Britain in this summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

No stranger to the television cameras, Tom will mark his imminent third Olympics with Tom Daley: Diving For Gold, an intimate portrait of his four-year journey from London 2012 until now.

Tom Daley
Tom Daley (John Walton/PA)

Broadcast on Saturday, the ITV programme covers his sporting, public and personal life.

It includes Tom’s coming out as he revealed his relationship with Dustin to the world. The documentary also covers his move to London from Plymouth and the gamble he is taking in learning a new dive in pursuit of Olympic gold in Rio.

Tom lost his dad, his biggest supporter, to a brain tumour in 2011. He still feels the loss. Tom said: “He always knew what to say to make me feel better. He was always just there to be supportive.”

Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black (Ian West/PA)
Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black (Ian West/PA)

Tom also revealed how much the gold medal would mean to him. “The thing that drives me every day, and has done for my whole life, is an Olympic gold medal. It’s the one title that I haven’t won yet.”