Tom Holland and Zendaya have set serious friendship and romance goals for their fans. It all began when they became co-stars in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) as Peter Parker and Michelle ‘MJ’ Jones. Five years later, they began dating. Let us look at how Tom Holland and Zendaya evolved from being close friends into Hollywood’s IT couple in this relationship timeline.
During the promotion of their first movie together, the two appeared ecstatic and very close. Despite fans shipping them, Holland and Zendaya maintained being good friends. Three years later, they were again paired together in Spider-Man: Far From Home. This time, they shared their first onscreen kiss and took fans by surprise. However, it was not until 2021 that they were spotted together, confirming that Zendaya and Tom Holland are the new couple on the block.
Since then, they have kept their relationship away from the limelight, though not missing any opportunity to be each other’s loudest cheerleaders. Ahead of the release of Dune: Part II, on 15 March 2024, Zendaya and Holland are expected to attend the premiere together.
Zendaya and Tom Holland’s relationship timeline: How they became friends and then lovers
2016: Tom Holland and Zendaya pop up on each other’s Instagram
For the first time, the actors were cast together as Peter Parker and MJ, respectively. However, beyond the screen, the duo began appearing on each other’s social media. They were on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter together, and Holland called her “mate” in the caption while Zendaya wrote, “Amidst all the chaos and sadness…this one good thing did happen to me today. Honored [sic] to share it with the very best…Spider-Man himself.”
2017: Does a press tour count as a vacation?
The Spider-Man actors embark on promoting their latest film, and netizens leave no stone unturned to fan the fire of dating speculations. Although a source told PEOPLE that they were dating, the actors continued to hold their ground and denied every rumour. One banter on social media stands out:
@Zendaya Does the press tour count 😂😝 https://t.co/2WsstZPyde
— Tom Holland (@TomHolland1996) July 13, 2017
In August 2017, Zendayaspoke to Entertainment Tonight about the conjectures arising while they were filming Spider-Man. She said, “It happens all the time, and of course we expected it.”
“I mean, it comes with the territory. It comes with the job, so it’s all good,” she added.
She told Variety, “We are friends,” adding, “He’s literally one of my best friends. This past how 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.”
2018: He hails the ‘Queen’ for her Met Gala look
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Tom Holland proved to be the best friend that every girl deserves. In 2018, Zendaya wore a metallic Versace gown at the Met Gala, which came to be known as the Joan of Arc look. The British actor shared a sweet photo of her and wrote: “All hail the queen. Killing it mate.”
2019-2020: Holland and Zendaya begin seeing other people?
Though Zendaya and Holland kept raking up serious dating rumours, news about them seeing other people began to do the rounds as well. In 2019, Zendaya reportedly started seeing her Euphoria costar Jacob Elordi. They even went on a holiday to Greece.
However, the two never confirmed it, and by September 2020, Elordi had moved on with Kaia Gerber.
Meanwhile, Holland also shared an Instagram post with his then-girlfriend Nadia Parks in July 2020. Daily Mail confirmed their relationship, stating they were isolating together in London.
March-April 2021: Tom Holland tags Zendaya in a post, yet again
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Holland, Zendaya and co-actor Jacob Batalon pose for a photocall at Disneyland. When Holland posted the image on Instagram, the placement of Zendaya’s name tag on his groin raised eyebrows.
The Frenemies actress commented, “I’m assuming because you don’t know how to work ig[sic.], that’s the reasoning behind my name placement.”
Tom replied, “Thanks @zendaya for making me aware of my obvious blunder before fixing the tag,” and the entire episode was captured by the Comments By Celeb handle in February 2021.
In a response to British GQ question, “Does it annoy him when fans, the media, whomever, link him romantically with his costars?” the Chaos Walking actor said, “You mean, because I tagged Zendaya over my groin in an Instagram post?”
He added, “That was so funny; it was obviously a mistake. But in all seriousness, it is also incredibly frustrating. It’s very nerve-racking.”
July 2021: The Tom Holland-Zendaya relationship gets real
Page Six shared images of the two actors spending quality time and kissing in a car in Los Angeles. The publication states that the couple was spotted in the Silver Lake neighbourhood of LA, where we’re told Zendaya’s mother, Claire Stoermer, resides.
1 September 2021: Holland makes it Instagram official
In the meantime, Holland and Zendaya attend a friend’s wedding in August. Instagram stories of someone close showed the two sitting together and leaning on each other.
The following month, when Zendaya turns 25, Holland wishes the birthday girl with a sweet photo from the set Spider-Man: No Way Home. His adorable caption reads, “My MJ, have the happiest of birthdays. Gimme a call when you’re up xxx”.
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October 2021: He praises Zendaya’s Dune red-carpet look
The Dune cast arrived for the movie premiere with Zendaya looking ethereal. Though not physically present at the event, Holland missed no chance to cheer his lady. Sharing her image on his Instagram grid, he wrote “Dune 😍”. The actress liked the post and replied with an adorable emoji as well.
November 2021: Holland speaks about keeping love life private
In an interview with GQ, the Cherry star said, “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 blatantly puts his thoughts out, saying, “I’ve always been really adamant to keep my private life private, because I share so much of my life with the world anyway. We sort of felt robbed of our privacy.”
When asked if he was ready to talk about it, Holland said, “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.”
December 2021: Zendaya and Holland at the Spider-Man: No Way Home premiere
The premiere and promotions of the new Spider-Man movie kept the lovebirds busy throughout the month. They looked cute as ever on the several red-carpet appearances, laughing and posing for the cameras. Paying homage to the comics and the franchise, Zendaya wears gorgeous web-themed outfits — from a custom Valentino Haute couture gown to an Alexander McQueen blazer dress with web stockings. They held hands at a London photo call, and Holland gushed about how beautiful she looked at an interview on the carpet.
On 16 December, just ahead of the film’s release, Zendaya showed love and appreciation for her man on Instagram by posting two incredible never-seen-before photos. While one showed Holland suspended by cables during the filming of a stunt scene, the other showed him dressed as Spider-Man as a kid. She hinted at their romantic relationship by captioning the post “My Spider-Man, I’m so proud of you, some things never change and good thing”.
January 2022: Zendaya spends time with the Hollands
Zendaya visited Tom’s London home and reportedly went to watch Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with his mother, Nikki Holland, and brothers, Harry, Sam and Paddy.
February 2022: More rumours and matching outfits
Zendaya and Tom Holland’s relationship became the basis of a string of false rumours that even surprised the Brit. Speculations about them buying a home together in South London were rife at the time. However, the actor appeared on Live with Kelly and Ryan and set records straight.
“I’ve had so many people call me up because, apparently, I bought a new house in South London? Which is completely false! I didn’t buy a new house. I’m like, ‘Wow, what a surprise, I wonder when I’ll get the keys,” Holland said.
On 16 February, the two looked exquisite, exiting the Crosby Street Hotel in Lower Manhattan. They were spotted hand-in-hand for the premiere of Holland’s action flick Uncharted (2022).
Three days later, fans witnessed another cute moment of their romantic relationship when the couple went on a date night in matching hockey shirts. The cherry on top were shirts carrying each other’s names.
June 2022: She posts a monochrome photo for his birthday
The Zendaya and Tom Holland relationship timeline gets endearing with every passing month. Celebrating his 26th birthday, The Greatest Showman actress posted a black-and-white photo to her grid captioned: “Happiest of birthdays to the one who makes me the happiest <3.”
The extremely sweet picture shows Holland hugging Zendaya from behind while she looks away from the camera.
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September 2022: She calls him ‘boyfriend’
The 2022 Emmy Awards was a noted point in Tom Holland and Zendaya’s relationship timeline. She won Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series category for Euphoria for the second time. Although Holland wasn’t present at the event, Zendaya later revealed that her mother was there with her, and she did text her “boyfriend”.
December 2022: Tom Holland and Zendaya’s engagement rumours
Addressing the false news, Zendaya’s mother Claire Stoermer shared a cryptic Instagram story, stating, “Clickbait typically refers to the practice of writing sensationalised or misleading headlines in order to attract clicks on a piece of content. It often relies on exaggerating claims or leaving out key information in order to encourage traffic. The term is generally used in a dismissive sense.”
March 2023: Zendaya’s ring has Holland’s initials
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A video posted by nail artist Marina Dobyk shows Zendaya’s manicured nails. However, what it also revealed was a gold ring the actress wore that carried Holland’s initials.
April 2023: Tom Holland and Zendaya attend the NMACC opening in India
Stars from across the world descended on Mumbai for the opening of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC). Zendaya and Tom Holland were part of the event, too. Though they did not pose on the carpet as a couple, they were seen interacting with one another and the other guests at the event.
May-June 2023: More interviews and attending NBA together
Holland and Zendaya continue to wow fans with their cute date nights and moments of togetherness. In May, they attended the NBA playoffs between the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers in San Francisco.
During The Crowded Room press tour the following month, Holland talked about their busy schedules, stating, “We’re two very busy people, and we’re on opposite sides of the world at this present time, so she couldn’t come.”
He also revealed playing golf with his girlfriend, “I’ve given her a few lessons. She’s very naturally talented, a real athlete, so she picked it up really quickly.”
Hinting at why the two celebrities intend to maintain a very low-profile relationship, Holland told The Hollywood Reporter, “Our relationship is something that we are incredibly protective of and we want to keep as sacred as possible. We don’t think that we owe it to anyone, it’s our thing, and it has nothing to do with our careers.”
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In another interview with RadioTimes.com in June, Holland joked, “Bless Zendaya, she had a lot to put up with, with me looking like that for 10 months, it was rough,” referring to the bowl cut he had for The Crowded Room. The same month, she also shared some scuba diving images of her beau to ring his 27th birthday on her Instagram story.
August 2023: Zendaya opens up about keeping her relationship low-key
She told Elle, “Parts of my life, I accept, are going to be public,” adding, “I can’t not be a person and live my life and love the person I love. But also, I do have control over what I choose to share. It’s about protecting the peace and letting things be your own but also not being afraid to exist. You can’t hide. That’s not fun, either. I am navigating it more than ever now.”
January 2024: A halt in Tom Holland and Zendaya’s relationship?
Ringing in the new year, the Dune actress did an Instagram cleansing sweep where she even unfollowed Holland as well. This aroused a lot of chatter about their breakup.
However, things were more than just normal. When asked if the rumours were true, the Challengers star clarified to TMZ, “No, absolutely not.”
They continue to praise each other’s works, comment on photos and even share photos on Instagram stories.
February 2024: Holland has the most ‘rizz’, according to Zendaya
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Ahead of the Dune: Part II release, Zendaya sat for an interview with Buzzfeed where she was asked who has the highest “rizz” in the cast. She started with “I don’t know. Rizz is short for charisma, right? Everybody’s kind of got their own.”
But, quickly added, “I think someone who has beautiful charisma, not on the Dune cast, but personally works for me, is Mr Tom Holland.”
The pair has been setting couple goals for a long time, and fans can only wait with bated breath for them to cast together again.
(Hero and feature image credit: Tom Holland/ @tomholland2013/ Instagram)
This story first appeared here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– What movies did Tom Holland and Zendaya work together in?
Tom Holland and Zendaya have worked together in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
– When did Tom Holland and Zendaya start dating?
Tom Holland and Zendaya’s relationship timeline started in 2016 when they were cast inSpider-Man: Homecoming. Since then, they have developed a strong friendship before dating a couple of years later.
