Tom Daley was banned from wearing his own knitwear brand while on The Celebrity Traitors.
The Olympic gold medallist, 31, has revealed that the act of self-promotion was prohibited while filming for the BBC’s popular Traitors spin-off show in the Scottish Highlands.
The former diving champion is a well-known knitting enthusiast and author of knitting and crochet book, Made with Love.
On the show, he wore a range of chunky knits, a look that has become his signature since he took up the hobby during the pandemic.
Daley told the Radio Times, however, that the BBC wouldn’t allow him to sport his own while on air.
But this did not stop him from keeping up with the pastime while filming for the Bafta-winning game show, which has become the broadcaster’s most-watched reality programme.
‘I was just knitting, knitting, knitting’
“Any time I was in the hotel, I was just knitting, knitting, knitting,” Daley said.
“You get your phone taken off you, you can’t talk to anyone, you’re just in your room, so I was very glad I had knitting because I think lots of people were bored.”
The show requires that contestants cannot speak with one another between filming or talk about the game with anyone outside of filming hours. There is understood to only be a production phone available for the occasional chaperoned call back home.
While some of the celebrity contestants were keen to do a knitting lesson in their “downtime”, Daley said they “never quite got around to it”.
The Olympian said his eldest son, seven-year-old Robbie, is a “huge fan” of the show.
Meanwhile, Daley will be back on screen next month as the presenter of Channel 4’s reality series Game of Wool, which aims to find Britain’s best amateur knitter.
He said he hopes the show will challenge the sexist and ageist cliches about the hobby, explaining: “It shouldn’t be boxed into a certain group of people. I think that’s what this show will prove.”
Daley will be back on screen next month as the presenter of Channel 4’s reality series Game of Wool – Christina Kernohan/Radio Times
For example, Daley said one of the contestants is a former marine who now works on building sites.
Asked what he hopes the audience will take away from the new series, he said: “I’d love to think that more and more people after watching this show will want to get involved.
“At least try it, pick up a set of knitting needles, pick up a crochet hook and give it a go.”
The former Olympian added that the pastime forms “such a big part of my life”, saying that he looks forward to it “every evening when I sit down after the kids are in bed” and credited it with getting him his gold medal in Tokyo.
“Knitting has changed my life,” he said, adding that the hobby allowed him to “stay focused and in the moment” during the high-pressure moments in his career.
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