Tom Daley battled bulimia and still has a "mild" eating disorder

He told The Guardian newspaper: "I used to make myself throw up, in 2012. I weigh myself every day. I’ve had a very strange relationship with food and my body image.

"I guess it is a mild form of [eating disorder]. Men always seem to not have eating disorders, and it’s hard to talk about it. But I would consider myself to be someone that has very much struggled with body image, and eating, and feeling guilty and shameful of the things that I eat."

Tom insisted his issues have nothing to do with public scrutiny but stem from what he was told in his training.

He added: "You have these body issues as an athlete. Lots of people would look at athletes and be like, 'What are you talking about? You’re an athlete, you’re in shape, you have nothing to worry about.'

"But especially as a diver, you’re up on the diving board and you’re so naked, so visible, so it’s quite hard to be content with your body, because you always want to be better.

"I don’t think the body image issues come from anything to do with the media. My body image [issues] came from within my sport – it was hammered into me that I was overweight and needed to lose weight in order to perform."

Tom - who has three-year-old son Robbie with husband Dustin Lance Black - admitted some of the photoshoots he took part in his younger years would be deemed inappropriate now, though he insisted he never felt he was being taken advantage of.

He said: "I don’t know if there would be shoots of maybe 14-, 15-, 16-year-old boys in their trunks, with water thrown all over them, now. I know there definitely wouldn’t be girls doing that.

"It’s hard to say what’s right and what’s wrong. Looking back, it made me feel more mature; I never felt taken advantage of in any way."