Dad Escorts Son to Prom, Wearing a Matching Suit (Exclusive)

One high school senior received the best surprise on prom night — a moment of acceptance from his father.

Romello Daniels, 18, tells PEOPLE that he always tries to “spice things up and make things look at it androgynous” when he’s preparing for an event — and he knew his look for prom needed to be “really good.”

“I had this picture of my head of having a tuxedo, but it is like a dress and it goes out. And then I looked online and I seen Billy Porter wearing a tuxedo dress, and I was like, oh, that’s what I’m looking for,” he says, referencing Porter’s iconic Christian Siriano tuxedo dress he wore to the 91st Academy Awards in 2019.

Romello’s custom purple velvet ensemble was already eye-catching on its own, paired with a matching purple fan and diamond bracelets — but when his dad surprised him by showing up in a purple velvet tux of his own that matched Romello’s look exactly, he began to cry.

Romello’s mom, Diamond Givens, captured the heartwarming moment in a video she later shared to TikTok, where it quickly went viral. The clip of the tearful moment of acceptance between father and son has 2.8 million likes and more than 23 million views.

“My son has had a rocky relationship with his pops growing up because his pops is Muslim and does not condone his lifestyle so wearing makeup, feminine hairstyles, nails and all that has always been a problem,” Diamond, 52, explains in the caption of the now-viral video. “So on this day he thought that his pops would not even come outside to see him leave for prom because he has never seen him off for any of his dances in the past. Well his pops said I’m taking my son to prom as his chauffeur and I’m going to match his outfit!”

Diamond tells PEOPLE that Malik’s decision to escort Romello to prom took everyone by surprise — but they were excited to see him step up for the moment.

“It was just a conversation between me and one of my sisters basically talking about who’s going to chauffeur Romello to the prom,” she explains. “While we were talking about it in front of my husband, my husband said to us, ‘I’m going to take him to the prom. I’m going to drop him off to the prom. I’m going to chauffeur him to the prom.’ “

“Mouth open, ‘Are you serious?’ “ she admits. “So it was a surreal moment. A surreal moment. And we just was like, ‘Okay, well what you going to wear?’ “

Both Romello and Malik’s outfits were done by Kali Kouture, whom Diamond says is one of her “close sister friends.” Though Kali is based in New Jersey, while the family currently resides in Georgia, Kali did the consultation for the dress via video call, and the family sent over the necessary measurements to make the vision come to life.

“She’s our personal designer pretty much,” Malik, 54, explains. “She designed sweats, shoes, clothes — she does it all, but we trust her. It’s a Black-owned business, and we know her personally. So we support her all the time and she supports us.”

Knowing Malik intended to surprise Romello on the day of the prom, Diamond and her sister made sure the two didn’t cross paths while they were each getting ready. Just before Romello was set to leave for the prom after the initial pictures had been taken, Malik came out in his matching tuxedo and surprised him.

“He would never think that his dad would do this because of the fact that his dad always loved him, always protected him, always provided, but he never supported the lifestyle,” Diamond explains. “So with that being said, that was the moment that we knew that this would really be a healing moment for Romello because he’s always looked for that from his dad.”

“His face lit up because he’s like, it’s my dad. But when he walked around the truck and he saw how he was dressed to match him and everything like that, that was the moment that Romello said just got to him because it was a very special moment,” she continues.

Malik isn’t Romello’s biological father, though he firmly states to PEOPLE that Romello is “my child.”

The two have butted heads over the years, particularly over Romello’s flamboyant likes. Romello admits that he’s often felt like he “would try to hide” his love of feminine things, like makeup and fashion, from Malik, really only getting a chance to express himself fully when his dad was on the road as a truck driver.

Diamond tells PEOPLE that she’s always tried to make space for Romello to express himself as he grew older, but admits it was difficult to balance Romello’s self-expression with the “tight ship” Malik maintained when he was home.

“He can do more when his dad is not home than he could do when his dad is not home,” Diamond explains. “You got to look this way, you got to dress this way, you got to whatever, whatever. When it’s just Mom, you could be a little bit more lenient.”

She admits at first she was also “a little strict,” refusing to let Romello wear press-on nails for many years. But she says “in the past year” she’s pushed both herself and Malik to let him explore his femininity more.

“I really sat down and talked to my husband and was like, listen, he’s 17. Let him explore himself. We know this is what he’s going to do. This is who he is. And he’s a creative person,” she says. “And my husband wasn’t with it. He wasn’t, but I was like, we have to let him.”

“I’m a truck driver, so I’m not home most of the time. I’m on the road … And when I come home, it’s like a culture shock,” Malik explains. “It is like, what is he got? So I was strictly on him. We seen different characteristics as he was growing up as a child, and I tried to check it or correct him or whatever. And it is like no matter what I said or did he wanted to play with the girls. You know what I mean? He wanted to do certain things. And I was just like, okay.”

Growing up Muslim, Malik explains he came from a “different culture” with a “stern background,” which often led to his and Romello’s conflict over his self expression. But he maintains, “I stand on what I did,” by showing up for Romello’s prom.

“Everybody was shocked when I said, it’s my choice. No one forced me. No one could force me to do anything,” Malik says. “Through my prayers and through my faith, I was able to pour into my child, because I knew sooner or later, he’s about to face the world. No matter how much we try to protect him in the house, he’s about to be out there in the world moving on his own accord, and I’m going to always be there for him. And I had to show him that. And this was a moment that I chose to show him.”

“He explores his femininity and that’s what he does. And I’m not going to take that away from my son. I love my son,” Diamond says. “I have my son, and my thing is that I’m going to love my son unconditionally.”