Gold medalist Tom Daley made a homemade NSFW gift for Sex Education star Gillian Anderson. While the British diver has achieved worldwide notoriety for his Olympic career, the young talent has also made waves with his knitting and crocheting, which he picked up in 2020. “It was something to learn on a trip to Canada from a YouTube video.
I was absolutely awful at first, I couldn’t get the hang of it,” he revealed in a 2021 interview with Knitrowan. “One of the Australian divers and one of the Russian divers on that trip helped me while we were there, and then on the flight home, one of our coaches on the British team gave me some tips and then with a lot of practice, I started getting the hang out it.” Since that fateful day, Daley has continued to hone his craft by creating an array of accessories and pieces, which have caught the eyes of big-name celebrities like X-Files star Anderson.
In June 2021, The Fall actor took to her Instagram account to ask the gold medalist if he could knit her a sweater for her Sex Education character Jean Milburn. “When you have a spare few minutes while conquering the world, how about crocheting Jean Milburn a hat/scarf/honey and then we’ll auction it off for your favourite LGBTQ charity?” she wrote.
Since that fateful day, the two beloved talents have remained mum on whether Daley actually made the piece… until now. On 29 November, Anderson revealed that the 29-year-old athlete created a sweater for her character – which was worn in Sex Education’s final season – before thanking him for the matching crocheted penis that came along with it. “Wanted to say a huge huge thank you to the darling @tomdaley for knitting this fantastic jumper (and crocheted willy ) for me to wear for our final season of @sexeducation,” she wrote.