Zendaya and Tom Holland’s Complete Relationship Timeline: From Making Spider-Man to Steamy Kiss
ZENDAYA #ZENDAYA
Tom Holland and Zendaya’s relationship is heating up.
The two Spider-Man: No Way Home stars costars were seen sharing a steamy smooch inside a car Thursday in photos obtained by Page Six.
Zendaya, 24, and Holland, 25, first met after being cast in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which was released in 2017.
Since then, rumors have circulated that the two stars have dated but the pair have repeatedly denied it and stressed they were just friends.
RELATED: Zendaya and Tom Holland Share a Passionate Kiss in a Car Years After Denying Romance
In July 2016, the two were cast in Spider-Man: Homecoming and began to slowly pop up on each other’s Instagram feeds.
Holland shared a photo of the two alongside another friend enjoying a dip in the pool that summer, with the caption, “Summer Sunday’s.”
RELATED: Tom Holland Says Zendaya Has ‘Helped Me a Lot’ with Fame and Becoming ‘Comfortable in Public’
In November 2016, Zendaya shared their dual cover story from The Hollywood Reporter where they were listed among the “Next Gen 2016.”
The two actors were dressed to the nines with Zendaya in a gown and Holland in a black suit.
“Amidst all the chaos and sadness…this one good thing did happen to me today. Honored to share it with the very best…Spider-Man himself,” she wrote in the caption.
The two continued to hang out, often accompanying each other to Hollywood events such as the MTV Movie & TV Awards in May 2017. In June of that year, the press tour for Spider-Man: Homecoming began and they were frequently spotted posing together on the red carpet.
In July 2017, a source told PEOPLE Zendaya and Holland were romantically involved.
“They started seeing each other while they were filming Spider-Man,” said the insider. “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.”
Added another source, “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.”
RELATED: Tom Holland Says He Doesn’t ‘Like Living in the Spotlight’: ‘I’m a Very Private Person’
Zendaya seemingly shut down romantic speculation that same month, tweeting, “My favorite is when it says we go on vacations together HA! I haven’t been on a vacation in years!😂😭🤣hbu @TomHolland1996 ???”
Shortly before the July 7 premiere of Homecoming, Holland told PEOPLE how Zendaya had helped him navigate the spotlight.
“We are like the best of friends. She’s so great and amazing,” Holland said of the actress. “I’m a little worried [about dealing with fame … but] Zendaya is super famous and she’s been through this and I just call her up and say, ‘How do I manage being famous?’ I’m very glad I have a friend like her.”
In August 2017, the Euphoria star told Variety she and Holland were not dating.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“We are friends,” she said. “He’s a great dude. He’s literally one of my best friends. This past how many months we’ve had to do press tours together. There’s very few people that will understand what that’s like at 20 years old.”
The two remained close in between Spider-Man films, with Holland celebrating Zendaya’s debut at the Met Gala in May 2018 when he shared a photo of her dressed as Joan of Arc on the red carpet.
“All hail the queen. Killing it mate,” he wrote in the caption.
Holland also shared a cheeky moment on Instagram in May 2019 when he posted a photo of himself, Zendaya and their Spider-Man costar Jacob Batalon while at Disneyland for a photocall to promote the film.
The actor placed Zendaya’s tag in a socially awkward moment with Zendaya commenting, “I’m assuming because you don’t know how to work ig, that’s the reasoning behind my name placement” in a moment captured by Comments by Celebs.
Holland wrote back, “Thanks @zendaya for making me aware of my obvious blunder” before fixing the tag.
In February, Holland spoke to British GQ about handling fame and credited Zendaya with helping him “a lot” in the sense that he used to unintentionally “come across sometimes as a bit of a d— to fans.”
According to the Cherry actor, Zendaya “totally changed the way I am able to be more comfortable in public.”
He also touched on speculation about his romantic life — particularly how it can be “frustrating” to have relationships play out in the spotlight.
“It’s very nerve-racking. It means that if you are dating someone, you have to be really conscious of their feelings, because if something does happen between the two of you, it’s not just happening between the two of you, it’s happening in front of the entire world,” he said. “It’s one of the things I worry about most, of all the things in my career.”