Gillian Anderson has unveiled the very NSFW crochet creation she was gifted by Tom Daley in honour of her role on Sex Education.
Olympic diving legend Tom has been known for his creative hobby ever since he was spotted passing the times between dives by knitting in the stands at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
He even has a dedicated Instagram account to show off all of his woollen creations, from cardigans to tote bags and even a cosy pouch to keep his gold medal safe.
Tom’s latest project, though, was a little more risqué. As revealed by Sex Education star Gillian – who plays sex therapist Jean Milburn in the hit Netflix series – Tom presented her with an enormous crocheted penis.
Yes, really.
Alongside the cheeky gift, Tom also knitted Gillian a stylish cardigan which the actor wore on the fourth and final season of the show.
“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,” The X-Files star wrote on Instagram.
Alongside a series of snaps of Tom meeting the her on set, Gillian shared that she and the gold medallist had raised just over £12,000 for the mental health charity Mind by auctioning off his knitted creations.
This amount is set to be divided amongst eight local branches that work with LGBTQIA+ communities.
“Thank you for your stellar knitting skills Tom and for coming to visit me on set!” she added.
Gillian also revealed the origins of the pair’s charitable collaboration, posting a screenshot from a 2021 post in which she congratulated Tom for his Olympic gold, which read: “When you have a spare few minutes while conquering the world, how about crocheting Jean Milburn a hat/scarf/honey cup, to wear if we do another @sexeducation season and then we’ll auction it off for your favourite LGBTQ charity?”
As well as Tom’s personalised gifts for Gillian, Tom’s Made With Love business has launched a range of Sex Education-themed T-shirts, accessories and even mini crocheted genitalia keyrings.
Sex Education concluded with its fourth season in September, much to the disappointment of fans.
Co-creator Laurie Nunn recently said the decision to wrap up the show came “organically”.
“Something just started to happen through the writing process where I realised that by the time we arrived at that final episode, there weren’t any cliff-hangers and everything had just resolved itself, so I had this feeling that if I left the characters there, I would feel happy for them and hopeful for their future,” she explained.
Meanwhile, back in the summer Tom announced his plans to try for a place on Team GB’s Olympics diving team in Paris 2024 after a two-year break from the sport.
Update: A previous version of this article referred to the aforementioned “crocheted willy” as “knitted”. This has now been corrected.