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TIMELINE: Zendaya and Tom Holland's goofy friendship to car kiss dating rumors

By  SAAB LARIOSA
Published Jul 05, 2021 5:35 pm

Zendaya and Tom Holland's relationship has always had the makings of a classic Gen-Z friendship. With their casual Instagram posts and witty Twitter interactions, many fans still doubted it when they dispelled dating rumors in 2017.

But just this weekend, the two young actors shocked the Internet when they were spotted briefly kissing inside a parked car in Los Angeles.

The two have yet to confirm their status, but in the meantime, we take a look into their years-long friendship and how they got to where they are now.

2016—Spider-Man: Homecoming shooting

Before the release of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) Spider-Man series, Tom and Zendaya were already hanging out and spending the summer together on and off shooting.

In July of 2016, Zendaya made her first appearance on Tom's Instagram through a polaroid summer photo with a friend. 

The two continued to promote their upcoming film and even appeared on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter's Next Generation of Actors November issue.

"Honored to share it with the very best...Spider-Man himself @tomholland2013," Zendaya captioned, with the pair looking dashing together.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zendaya (@zendaya)

2017 - First dating rumors

With the success of Spider-Man: Homecoming, the chemistry of Tom's Peter Parker and Zendaya's MJ couldn't be denied. Rumors soon started to spur of a romance between the two actors, with People first reporting that they started dating while filming Homecoming.

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," an insider shared with the site.

They're 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.

The pair were quick to dispel the rumors, which also alleged that they took a romantic getaway together after the film's release. Zendaya quipped on Twitter that she hasn't had a vacation in years, and tagged Tom in the post.

"Wait wait...my favorite is when it says we go on vacations together HA!"

2018 - Social media flexing

With the dating rumors now behind them, the pair remained friendly on social media.

During the 2018 Met Gala, Tom even digitally "hailed" his friend who famously rocked a Joan of Arc-inspired outfit for the event's 2018 theme of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination."

“All hail the queen. Killing it mate ??.”

The pair also returned birthday greetings to each other through Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zendaya (@zendaya)

Tom returned the birthday shout-out with a photo of the two walking in L.A. while filming Spider-Man: Far From Home.

2019 and 2020 was a quite time for the stars, as they began the Spider-Man: Far From Home global press tours and Zendaya released her HBO hit Euphoria. 

Dating rumors also circulated between Zendaya and Euphoria costar Jacob Elordi, while Tom was seen supermodel Kaia Gerber. They continued to shut down rumors of a potential romance.

2021 - Kissing in cars

Fast forward to 2021, and Tom (25) and Zendaya (24) have blown fans' minds with new photos showing the two sharing a sweet moment in Los Angeles. The photos first show the co-stars laughing in a  car, before going in for a quick kiss.

As expected, social media had a field day with the leaked photos.

The two have yet to comment on their score (if they ever will, that is), but we're set to see the duo on the screen once again when Spider-Man: No Way Home premieres in theaters this December 2021.

TAGS: Tom Holland Zendaya

About the author

SAAB LARIOSA

Saab is a big fan of words.