Clare Balding: Tom Daley is 'a star' for announcing he is dating a man on YouTube

Television presenter Clare Balding has hailed Olympic diver Tom Daley as 'a star' for revealing his bisexuality on YouTube.

The BBC sports presenter, who has been in a civil partnership with her partner Alice Arnold since 2006, told ITV's Daybreak she would have preferred to 'come out' publicly in a similar way.

Balding was revealed as a lesbian in a newspaper more than 10 years ago when she and her then girlfriend attended a film premiere.

She said yesterday: "Isn't Tom a star? Do you know what I loved about that video?

"There was no marketing, there was no branding, it was clearly not managed."

Speaking about her own sexuality, she added: "I love that and I think gosh, if YouTube had been around 10 years ago, that's probably what I'd have done, not that anyone would have cared.

"I thought it was so lovely that he was able to talk for as long as he wanted to talk. There was no limit on it."

Balding, who will be co-presenting the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year this Sunday, said she hoped a sports star's sexuality would eventually not be considered front page news.

But she suggested some athletes could "improve" their performance if they felt able to reveal their sexual identity.

She said: "I think the day that it’s not news is the day that an awful lot of people will feel much more relaxed about just cracking on with their lives.

"I think though when you’re honest and you’re relaxed, I think it can improve your performance. That’s true whether you’re in business or in sport."

Daley's YouTube video, which was this week announced as one of the most popular clips of the year with UK viewers, has been watched almost 10,000,000 times as of today.

He has since been spotted house hunting in Stratford for a new pad, which it is rumoured he will share with boyfriend Dustin Lance Black.