It’s a tale as old as time—Spider-Man and MJ will always get together, on and off-screen. So when Zendaya and Tom Holland started dating, fans expected it—and PRAYED that they wouldn’t fall victim to the “Spider-Man curse” that befell Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone or Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. Luckily, it seems as though their private relationship has broken the curse because at the 2025 Golden Globes, Zendaya debuted her engagement ring, and less than 24 hours later TMZ confirmed their engagement. In honor of this monumental news, let’s take a walk down memory lane: Here’s JustNLife’s full Tom-daya relationship timeline!
Remember the iconic Lip Sync Battle?
They don’t do movie press like they used to. Back in 2017, when the internet was getting geared up for Spider-Man: Homecoming, the first of Holland’s many Spiderman title films with Marvel, we were getting a whirlwind of a press tour. Our favorite moment was the iconic Lip Sync Battle: Zendaya slayed Bruno Mars‘ “24k Magic” but Holland blew us all out of the water with “Singing in the Rain” & “Umbrella.” Fans joked that you could see Zendaya falling in love with Holland during his performance.
Spider-Man: Homecoming Releases
In July 2017, Spider-Man: Homecoming finally came out, starring Holland with Zendaya as his fabulous love interest. Fans spotted their adorable chemistry instantly and were hoping to spawn dating rumors.
Cue “Rumors” by Lizzo and Cardi B
Shortly after the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, People reported that the two co-stars were dating. According to a source close to the pair, “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.” To this, Zendaya and Holland tweeted a response, laughing off the allegations and maintaining that they were not dating.
This was all while the source told People “[Holland and Zendaya are] 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.” This gave hopefuls a second wind because fans had already noticed their amazing chemistry.
Zendaya was later on record shutting down the rumors to Variety and for the rest of 2017, they were fighting off the gossip. Then, in 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home came out, but it seemed only stans maintained hopeful that they were dating.
Zendaya x Jacob Elordi Era
Remember a little show called Euphoria? Well, during filming, the pair must’ve gotten cozy. Just a few short months after the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home, in August 2019 a fan shared a photo with Zendaya in the background. Innocent enough, but fans quickly noticed that with Zendaya was Euphoria co-star Jacob Elordi. The pair were exploring Greece together… romantic!
Later, Elordi told GQ Australia that they weren’t dating, just great friends… are we starting to see a pattern here?
Despite the clear denial, the pair were spotted getting close in New York in early 2020. They were photographed together at the American Australian Arts Award dinner and were seen kissing and cuddling throughout the city.
So with any hope for Tom-daya immediately shut down, Holland was also seeing someone else. Holland was reported by Daily Mail to be quarantining with actress Nadia Parkes in London during lockdown.
What we saw up until this point was Zendaya and Holland really trying to get past the inevitable Spider-Man and MJ relationship, which obviously didn’t last!
The Tom-daya Car Makeout
In July 2021, fans finally got what they wanted. Tom Holland and Zendaya were photographed kissing in his car. We finally got the confirmation that we needed: Tom-daya was official!
The Birthday Hard-Launch
We love a man who loves a hard launch. For Zendaya’s birthday in September 2021, Holland posted a photo on his feed of the pair being adorable, captioned “My MJ, have the happiest of birthdays. Gimme a call when your up xxx.” She commented on the post “Calling now [heart emoji].” As a fan back then, we were absolutely dying over this!
The Best Tom-daya Press Tour
For Spider-Man: No Way Home, with their confirmed romance, we got the best press tour in press tour history! From flirting in interviews to couples questions to fighting over orange-flavored chocolate, this era was nothing short of iconic.
Holland and Zendaya calling out lack of privacy
In many interviews following their hard launch, the pair have noted the lack of privacy they have in their industry. For Spider-Man: No Way Home, Holland was on the cover of GQ in November 2021, where he was asked about the car makeout photos. He noted, “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 also stated that he’s always been adamant about keeping his private life private, which we’ve seen throughout his relationship with Zendaya.
Zendaya also told GQ “[the photo incident] was quite strange and weird and confusing and invasive.” She also shared that she and Holland both agree “that when you really love and care about somebody, some moments or things, you wish were your own.”
The pair have fought rumors throughout their whole relationship, from its fruition to now. A rumor of Zendaya’s pregnancy surfaced on social media in June 2022, which Zendaya had to quickly shut down. Let her breathe, people!
Casual Mentions
Since then, the pair have been very solid, appearing with each other on carpets and at events, supporting each other at performances, and talking about one another in interviews. Zendaya brought up her boyfriend unprompted in an interview for Dune: Part Two.
During Holland’s performances of Romeo & Juliet at the West End, Zendaya was spotted supporting him and running to the limousine to avoid stealing his spotlight. In the meantime, he was supporting her throughout the release of Challengers.
The Engagement!
We are still in disbelief, but at the 2025 Golden Globes Awards, Zendaya showed up on the carpet ready to wow. Not only was she wearing a stunning orange gown, but her ring finger was blinged out with a diamond! The ring allegedly comes from a brand based in the U.K. called Lorel Diamonds. At the event, she is seen showing off the diamond to bestie Ayo Edebiri and others.
The next day, their engagement was confirmed by TMZ, but the pair have yet to make any remarks. Good for them, get some of that privacy that you deserve and congratulations on the big news!
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