The real reason Zendaya and Tom Holland are the world’s favourite celebrity couple

The besotted A-listers have long been #relationshipgoals, but now they’ve taken the next step and put a ring on it. Helen Coffey looks at how the pair managed to pull off the impossible – building a loving, authentic relationship under the scrutinising gaze of millions of fans

Stop the presses. Alert the town crier. Shout it from the rooftops. Your favourite celebrity couple are set to wed at last!

Well, I’m assuming they’re your favourite celebrity couple, because aren’t they everyone’s? I’m talking, of course, about Zendaya and Tom Holland. Rumours of the pair’s engagement whipped the internet into a frenzy after the Euphoria actor was spotted accessorising her copper-coloured Golden Globes dress with an impressively hench rock adorning her ring finger.

Citing sources, People and TMZ both reported on Monday that Holland proposed at one of Zendaya’s family homes over the Twixmas period. But in typical Tomdaya (is that a thing?) fashion, both remained demurely tight-lipped on the subject. When a Los Angeles Times reporter asked her point blank on the red carpet on Sunday whether the rumours were true, Zendaya did the most Zendaya thing imaginable – “smiled coyly and shrugged her shoulders mysteriously”, according to said journalist.

But that, arguably, is part of the enduring charm of the two Hollywood sweethearts, and integral to how they’ve managed to pull off the seemingly impossible: building an authentic, supportive and deeply committed relationship under the hawk-like gaze of the press and legions of overly emotionally invested fans.

It’s no mean feat when you’re as famous as they both are: 28-year-old British actor Holland is, of course, Gen Z Spider-Man and a staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while US-born Zendaya, also 28, is undoubtedly the most powerful actor of her generation, with a stratospheric trajectory in the past few years culminating in Challengers and the Dune movie franchise.

Despite literally being the most A of A-listers, though, they’ve somehow kept their partnership low-key and down-to-earth, creating a sense of privacy, intimacy and, dare I say it, sacredness around the whole thing. They’ve always protected their bond as if it were a precious, vulnerable creature – the romantic equivalent of a newborn chick, cupped gently in delicate hands.

No one even knows quite when they made the transition from friends to lovers. The exact point of genesis was shrouded in mystery after the pair first met in 2016 on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming (Zendaya starred as Holland’s love interest, MJ). They became firm friends and spent years dodging dating rumours and emphasising how “platonic” it all was, before eventually being outed in 2021 when they were papped kissing in Holland’s sportscar while waiting at a red light. One got the sense that, were it up to them, the relationship would have remained hidden from view for the rest of time.

The couple were first ‘outed’ by photographers in 2021 (Getty)

After a photo of the couple holding hands at a friend’s wedding was leaked, both spoke about how much they’d have preferred to keep things under wraps. “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,” Holland told GQ.

Zendaya expressed a similar sentiment: “When you really love and care about somebody, some moments or things, you wish were your own,” she said. “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.”

A world away from the more flashy celebrity couples who can’t keep their hands off each other in public – and the many who would, in fact, happily call up the paparazzi themselves to ensure their “intimate” moments were captured and splurged all over the tabloids – Zendaya and Holland quickly became the Hollywood couple for whom everyone felt genuine affection, because of their relationship’s shyness, its groundedness, its air of bona fide integrity.

It’s quite clear to see that here is a couple quietly besotted with one another beneath all the media hoopla

Though they’ve never spoken about each other openly all that much, they’ve never needed to – it’s quite clear to see that here is a couple quietly besotted with one another beneath all the media hoopla. All it would take was the way she laughed at one of his jokes, or the way a warm, knowing glance passed between them during an interview, or the way he gently but firmly took her arm and stood between her and photographers while she got into a car, for social media to go into meltdown. “FIND SOMEONE WHO LOOKS AT YOU LIKE THIS” came the frequent yearning-filled captions alongside photos of Zendaya and Holland exchanging doe-eyed, adoring expressions. It felt like the kind of love that’s impossible to hide; it’s written all over their faces in 28-point bold text.

On the rare occasions that they have talked about their relationship, you get the sense that each is bursting with pride about the other – that they’re struggling not to gush, barely reining in the impulse to screech, incredulously: “Can you believe it? S/he is my actual, real-life girl/boyfriend? Wow, just… wow!”

In February last year, Zendaya responded to a question about who of the Dune cast had the most “rizz” (charisma, if you’re not familiar with the young-person lingo) by giving the name, not of a fellow castmate, but of her boyfriend. “I think someone who has beautiful charisma, not on the Dune cast, but personally, works for me, is Mr Tom Holland,” she told BuzzFeed in a video interview while playing with puppies. “He’s great at talking to people and getting to know people and you see him on talk shows and he’s just naturally very good at that … he’s got that natural gift”.

Holland, meanwhile, said in his own, separate BuzzFeed interview that he was “locked up and happy and in love so I’ve got no need for rizz“. (Anyone who’s seen his internet-breaking “Umbrella” performance on US TV show Lip Sync Battle in 2017 would have to strongly disagree with this self-assessment.)

And Holland has proven himself the president, vice-chair and treasurer of the Zendaya fan club multiple times over, most notably in the way he lets his movie star partner shine on the red carpet. While Holland attends events with her, he rarely walks next to her hand-in-hand because, in his words, “it’s not my moment”. As he told Men’s Health: “It’s her moment, and if we go together, it’s about us.” Yes, that’s the sound of women around the world collectively swooning.

So here’s to Zendaya and Tom Holland, the one celeb pairing whose simple devotion and understated ardour means we ship them to the end, come what may. Forget Trump and Starmer; there’s finally a return to the UK-US “special relationship” we can actually root for.