All of which is to say that no one is doing it like TomDaya. With a combined 250 million followers on Instagram (Holland might be Spider-Man, but Zendaya pulls in a cool 177 million of those on her own), they are Gen-Z royalty. And, a bit like the royals themselves, they have adopted a formula that allows them to parachute into moments of enormous public attention – proffering a soundbite here, a viral moment there – before retreating back into their Richmond bubble, where they share a six-bedroom home with their three pet dogs. They speak about one another in these moments because they recognise that their fans are interested and invested in their relationship. They’ll do the red-carpet photo op and gently tease one another on camera – but they’ll never reveal too much, giving them a tantalising sheen of privacy.
Their reticence to show us everything is understandable. They were both child stars, and steering a colossal franchise like Spider-Man together has likely made them increasingly cautious of parasocial interest in their love life. Holland, who was born in Kingston-Upon-Thames and found fame in 2012’s The Impossible after playing Billy Elliot in the West End, said in 2023, “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.” California-raised Zendaya, who booked her first major role on the Disney Channel aged 14, said in 2023, “I do have control over what I choose to share.”
Thus their social media activity is sporadic, and mostly for projects – or in designer darling Zendaya’s case, fashion with a capital F. She hasn’t posted a picture of them together for almost four years. Their promotional commitments as co-stars is one of the only windows into their relationship we really get, and that’s intentional. They don’t attend big events as a couple, and Holland said last year that he deliberately avoids joining his partner on the red carpet for her solo projects because “it’s not my moment, it’s her moment, and if we go together, it’s about us”. Nonetheless he is evidently her biggest stan, cheering with the crowds as he turns to watch her walk the red carpet, and regularly stepping aside and gesturing to the waiting cameras to take solo shots of his wife as he looks on adoringly.
