Zendaya finally addresses those Tom Holland rumours, and the internet’s weirdest theory yet

Zendaya has carefully responded to the rumours around her relationship with Tom Holland, offering a rare glimpse into their dynamic while sidestepping the question everyone’s still asking: Did they secretly get married?

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Appearing on The New York Times’ Modern Love podcast alongside her The Drama co-star Robert Pattinson, Zendaya spoke about her relationship with Holland. The renewed attention comes after stylist Law Roach sparked a frenzy on a red carpet in March by claiming their “wedding has already happened“.

Zendaya didn’t confirm anything about a wedding, but she didn’t exactly shut it down either. Instead, she spoke on what she does feel certain about: “I knew this is my person because I don’t feel nervous around them,” she said. “I feel really peaceful, and I feel really calm like, oh, I actually feel more nervous when I’m away from you than when I’m with you.”

It’s a surprisingly low-key description for one of Hollywood’s most scrutinised relationships, but that seems to be the point. The two first crossed paths during an audition for Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Zendaya recalled how Holland’s presence immediately put her at ease during what was otherwise a high-pressure moment.

“I was pretty nervous anyway, but he did make me feel calm… Just by being a nice person, you know? By making me feel comfortable,” she said. “You really want the job… and yeah, he was really lovely then.”

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Nearly a decade on, the pair have grown up side by side, both on-screen and off, through multiple Spider-Man films and upcoming projects together, including this summer’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. For Zendaya, that shared history is part of what makes the relationship feel so solid.

“I feel like I’m biased because I’ve been able to grow up with the person that I love,” she said. “So it’s like, of course we’re going to change and we’re going to grow… but I still feel like there’s a bond… enough to feel safe with them.”

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She acknowledged the level of attention directly, describing it as a kind of inevitable byproduct of their fame. “There is a level of a parasocial investment in my personal relationship,” she said. “I understand… we’ve grown up in front of people, and we’ve done movies where we fall in love with each other.”

Zendaya made it clear she’s intentional about what she shares, drawing a line between public life and private happiness. “I don’t want to dismiss that like ‘stay out of my business’… but in a lot of ways, I also am a very private person,” she explained. “We do our best… to preserve things for ourselves.”

In other words: You’ll get glimpses, but don’t expect a full reveal any time soon.

And if the relationship rumours weren’t enough, Zendaya also addressed one of the internet’s more baffling obsessions: a viral conspiracy involving a hat she once wore.

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“I was confused by this Zendaya hat theory thing,” she said. “I think the purpose of it is that it doesn’t make sense… There’s like conspiracies that Tom lives in the hat… and like, I have… a dark version of myself that is taken over once I wore the hat or something. The internet is a weird place.”

Which might be the most definitive statement she’s made on anything all week.

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Featured image credit: Rob Latour/Shutterstock, Maria Laura Antonelli/AGF/Shutterstock