Tom Holland (2017, 2021 – present)
Zendaya and Tom Holland have sparked romance rumors ever since they met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016. Speculation reached its peak in 2017 during the pair’s promotional tour for the film, with many assuming that the duo were secretly an item. Zendaya shut down the rumors at the time, telling Variety, “We are friends. He’s a great dude. He’s literally one of my best friends. This past how[ever] many months, we’ve had to do press tours together. There’s very few people that will understand what that’s like at 20 years old.”
While rumors quieted for a few years, the Spider-Man co-star reignited talks of romance in July 2021. The pair were photographed sharing a passionate kiss in Holland’s car. The photos—which you can see here—pretty much broke the internet. A source who spoke to People at the time confirmed the relationship, revealing, “They started seeing each other while they were filming Spider-Man. They’ve been super careful to keep it private and out of the public eye but they’ve gone on vacations with each other and try and spend as much time as possible with one another.”
The insider continued, “They’re both really ambitious and they challenge each other—but, most importantly, they make each other crack up. They seem to have a really similar sense of humor and love joking around together. They have great banter back and forth.”
While Tom and Zendaya have continued to play coy about their relationship, the actress spoke about what she appreciates most about her rumored beau in her November 2021 InStyle interview. “There are many things, obviously, that I appreciate,” she told the magazine. “In an actor way, I appreciate that he really loves being Spider-Man. It’s a lot of pressure—you take on the role of a superhero wherever you go. To the little kid who walks by, you are Spider-Man. I think he handled that so well. And seeing him at work, even though he’s not a Virgo, he is a perfectionist.”
In an interview with GQ in 2021, Tom revealed what Zendaya taught him about fame. “Having her in my life was so instrumental to my sanity,” he said. “She is so good at being the role model for young guys and girls. When anyone comes up, like, ‘Can I have a picture?,’ it’s never a bad time. Whereas my initial reaction was: ‘Why are you talking to me? Leave me alone.’” Tom also discussed the 2021 photo of him and Zendaya kissing, which he saw as an invasion of his “privacy.” “One of the downsides of our fame is that privacy isn’t really in our control anymore, and a moment that you think is between two people that love each other very much is now a moment that is shared with the entire world,” he said. “I’ve always been really adamant to keep my private life private, because I share so much of my life with the world anyway,” he says. “We sort of felt robbed of our privacy.”
Zendaya added, “It was quite strange and weird and confusing and invasive. The equal sentiment [we both share] is just that when you really love and care about somebody, some moments or things, you wish were your own.… I think loving someone is a sacred thing and a special thing and something that you want to deal with and go through and experience and enjoy amongst the two people that love each other.”
When asked how he and Zendaya started dating, Tom told GQ, “I don’t think it’s about not being ready. It’s just that we didn’t want to. It’s not a conversation that I can have without her. You know, I respect her too much to say… This isn’t my story. It’s our story. And we’ll talk about what it is when we’re ready to talk about it together.”
As for what Zendaya thinks of Tom, the former Disney Channel star gushed to GQ about her co-star. “He’s a fun time,” she said. “Very charismatic, can make anybody feel comfortable and have a good laugh and a good chat. A good chat—I sound so British.”
Even years later she’s confirmed that the only person to rizz her up was her Spider-Man co-star. “I think someone who has beautiful charisma, not in the Dune cast, but worked for me is Mr. Tom Holland,” she said in a Buzzfeed puppy interview. “I’m more shy and kinda quiet, so it takes a little more to pull me out of my shell,” she explained. “But he’s great at just, like, talking to people and getting to know people.”
The Crowded Room actor even acknowledged his rizz game when making a movie with a love interest. “I have no rizz whatsoever. I have limited rizz,” he told Buzzfeed. “I need you to fall in love with me, really, for it to work. So, long game. Probably making a movie with each other. Definitely helps when the characters you’re playing are falling in love with one another—you can sort of blur the lines a little bit. That’s kind of where my rizz is at. And I’m, you know, I’m locked up, so I’m happy and in love. So I’ve got no need for rizz.”
He also talked about his relationship with social media after the Euphoria star sends him memes every day on Instagram. “It’s nonstop,” he says. “She sends me too much, it’s like, I can’t keep up! I delete my Instagram for days at a time. I download it to post and then I have to check my messages, and I’ll have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of things from her.”