In a Celeb-Saturated World, Why We Never Tire of TomDaya

How do you confirm a wedding when you are two of the most famous people in the world? Well, if you’re Tom Holland and Zendaya, you simply pop out for a dog walk, in T-shirts and jeans and matching gold bands on a Thursday afternoon in London. It was a typically relaxed move for the couple, who have become notorious for their low-key approach to their own fame – and their relationship. The way they’ve revealed precious little about themselves and their life together, whilst simultaneously tirelessly promoting two of the biggest movies of the summer together, has been a celebrity masterclass in offering the public just enough access while keeping your private life… well, exactly that.

The wedding rings appeared shortly after news of their UK wedding celebration broke, with (according to The Sun), guests including Robert Downey Jr, Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, the bride’s Euphoria co-star Hunter Schafer and Ayo Edebiri attending the party at Beaverbrook in Surrey. There have been zero photos – sanctioned or otherwise – from the event. The couple’s legal marriage earlier in the year was so under wraps we wouldn’t know about it at all had Zendaya’s stylist Law Roach not let it slip on the red carpet back in April.

Meanwhile, work-wise the newlyweds have had a bumper summer, promoting back to back projects together and with Roach working overtime dressing Zendaya in Matières Fécales, Jacquemus and vintage Alberta Ferretti. First came the promo tour for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, in which Holland, 30, plays Telemachus and Zendaya, 29, plays Athena. Directly afterwards they stepped aboard another promotional juggernaut, this time for Spider Man: Brand New Day (the couple met on the set of the Marvel franchise a decade ago). Three world premieres, in London, Los Angeles and Mexico City, in the space of a week, were bolstered by yet more junkets and photo calls. You couldn’t have muted these two if you’d tried.

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.

Fatigue could have set in after such a TomDaya-heavy summer, but they make an undeniably likeable pair. They laugh together (and at themselves) in an industry stuffed with stars who take themselves incredibly seriously. Their origin story involves them appearing on a legendary episode of Lip Sync Battle back in 2017, during which Holland brought the house down – and became something of an icon of healthy masculinity – performing “Umbrella” in full Rihanna regalia as a dumbfounded Z, herself dressed as Bruno Mars, looked on (if you have somehow missed it, please enjoy). A rare joint interview last month saw them descended upon by puppies as they answered questions about Spider-Man. During the chat Holland – who is 5ft8 to his wife’s 5ft10, picked up one of the smaller pups and told him, “You’re like me, you’re the little one.” 

TomDaya are proof that it’s possible to maintain a low-profile even as two of the most bankable movie stars in the world. Now it’s likely they’ll disappear for a bit. Having also promoted The Drama and the final season of Euphoria in 2026, and with Dune: Part Three coming up later this year, Zendaya has said she’s ready for a break – plus there’s the small matter of her 30th birthday next month. When asked by a reporter at a screening what she plans to do once Dune promo is complete, she replied: “Oh, girl, nothing. Just mind my business, you know?” It appears to be this power couple’s mantra – and plenty of other public figures could learn from it.

This article was originally published on British Vogue.