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Exclusive: Tom Daley takes batch cooking baby food to Olympic level

Tom Daley during a photocall at the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford.
Tom Daley during a photocall at the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford (Credit: PA)

Tom Daley has cooked 48 meals in advance for son Robbie while he goes abroad to compete in the World Aquatic Championships.

The 25-year-old British diving champion - whose son with Dustin Lance Black celebrates his first birthday today - revealed he does all the cooking at home and so has filled the freezer with healthy meals for Black to feed Robbie while he is away.

Daley told Yahoo UK: “I do all of the cooking. I make all of Robbie’s food. I’m going away for three weeks for the world championships and I’ve made Robbie 48 pre-made meals in the freezer that Lance can warm up and feed him while i’m gone.

“I have to do it because I know that Lance won’t cook those meals, he’ll just go to the shop. I enjoy it as well. There’s something really interesting in introducing him to new flavours, it’s really fun. He loves scrambled egg.”

Robbie turns one today and Daley - an ambassador for British Lion eggs - is baking him a smash cake.

The Olympic medalist revealed: “I’m baking banana smash cake, I saw online that you make a cake and when your baby smashes into it they look quite dramatic.

“We had Lance’s family over last week and my family were up on the weekend and a lot of people put their presents in front of him and all he cared about was the wrapping paper and the boxes.”

Daley is heading to South Korea to compete for Great Britain in the FINA World Aquatic Championships and admits being away from Robbie will be tough.

He said: “It’s horrible, it’s so hard. I’ve been away for two weeks at a time and I spend my whole time on Facetime. There’s not a moment when I don’t think about him, but I want to try and do what I love as well.

“Fatherhood has changed my perspective on everything. When I used to go away I used to think, ‘This is so exciting to see all these cool places.’ But now I just want to see Robbie.

“It’s not the same seeing him on Facetime but it’s something lots of parents have to deal with if they travel fo work. It does make the reunion, very, very sweet.”

Daley’s own father, Robert, died aged 40 from brain cancer in 2011.

Daley said: “There are so many different lessons my dad taught me that I want to be able to pass onto Robbie. That’s part of the reason we named Robbie after him.

“I wish he was here to see it, but it’s the time that I get to try and be the same dad to my son that my dad was to me.”

Speaking about having more children Daley said: “Lance and I have always said we want to have a big family. Right now with Robbie we’ve got our hands full. But in the future, who knows?”

Tom Daley is an ambassador for British Lion eggs. For recipe inspiration and more about the essential nutrients eggs contain visit eggrecipes.co.uk