There's a reason why you won’t be seeing any Zendaya and Tom Holland wedding photos.

When Zendaya walked down the red carpet at the 2025 Golden Globes, a piece of jewellery on her left hand quickly overshadowed the carefully selected gowns of the actresses milling around her.

Thanks to the removal of all her other jewellery once she stepped inside the room, a large smile across her face when asked by a journalist if she was engaged, and a family source later confirming the news to People Magazine, it's now public knowledge that Zendaya is betrothed to her Marvel co-star Tom Holland.

What followed this news was an outpouring of congratulations from the famous duo's fanbase but above all else a raging thirst and excitement to see the couple's eventual wedding photos, in particular Zendaya's wedding dress. Since the award-winning actress is known for her red carpet style, deftly guided by her longtime stylist and collaborator Law Roach, the look she chooses is sure to be a work of enviable fashion excellence.

However, not to crush anyone's will to live this early into the new year, but if you look back at Zendaya and Tom Holland's relationship history, it will become clear that our eyes will likely never get to view their wedding photos.

Is Zendaya engaged to Tom Holland? Image: Getty.

Despite the plethora of reports confirming the news, it's unlikely that Zendaya or Tom will share any in-depth information about their engagement or future wedding plans.

While they might be Hollywood royalty, these two never deign to fit into the cookie-cutter mould of the 'ideal' Hollywood love story.

On paper (or in a TikTok algorithm), Tom Holland and Zendaya's relationship looks ripe for building out their own extensive fandom and monetising future projects through the linking of their famous names.

After all, Zendaya is a Disney Channel child star who made the sometimes-difficult leap to critically acclaimed actress, becoming the youngest winner in history to be awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and the first woman of colour to win the award twice.

For his part, Holland is a Broadway child-star-turned-Marvel-leading-man with his role as Spider-Man.

Watch: Tom Holland performs on Lip Sync Battle. Post continues below.

In the last two years, in particular, the two actors have very deliberately sidled away from their child-star and superhero pasts with more adult fare – Tom with his role in 2023's psychological thriller series The Crowded Room and Zendaya with Challengers, a threesome-featuring rom-com.

From meeting on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming to the mythology of how they first fell in love (rumour has it Tom's viral Umbrella performance on Lip Sync Battle was all a ploy to woo Zendaya, and her face in the video looks to confirm this), this relationship has all the makings of a traditional Hollywood 'super couple'.

Except it will never go down that path.

Tom Holland and Zendaya's public appearances are strictly work-related. Image: Getty.

It's safe to say that having two of the biggest stars of their generation romantically linked is the stuff of entertainment industry dreams.

Think Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson further capitulating the Twilight franchise to fame, Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck strategically pushing people to talk about Deep Water, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens keeping the High School Musical movies pumping way past their relevancy date, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams fuelling the romantic mythology around The Notebook, and the original Spider-Man love story of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield drawing more eyes to their superhero saga.

Even the tabloid rumour-ridden romance of Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles pulled Don't Worry Darling out of the box office abyss after the movie was slammed with bad reviews.

Despite this precedent, it's looking more and more likely that Tom and Zendaya's relationship will never be the "typical Hollywood romance", and not because the public is not wholly invested in them. Or because they are not madly in love.

It's because, instead of projecting a fame-filled love story to the masses, they've made their hatred and uncertainty around fame a cornerstone of their brand, rather than their relationship itself.

Tom Holland and Zendaya on a Marvel red carpet. Image: Getty.

In a 2023 episode of Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, Tom — who took a year off acting to deal with the emotional toll of filming The Crowded Room — said the glare of the entertainment industry frightens him.

"It is not for me. The business really scares me," the actor said.

"I understand that I'm a part of that business and I enjoy my kind of interactions with it, but that said, I am always looking for ways to kind of remove myself from it to kind of just live as normal a life as possible.

"I really do not like Hollywood."

Zendaya and Tom, who have been dating since 2021, have always been careful to never extensively talk about each other in interviews, or pose at events together outside their Marvel work commitments. So the main story thread around their relationship has always been about how much they don't want the public to intrude on it.

In a interview with Men's Health, Holland further elaborated on the impact of fame and public attention.

In one brief mention of Zendaya, he said he no longer walks the red carpet alongside her — with the exception of their Spider-Man appearances — because he doesn't want their romance to take away from her career success.

"Because it's not my moment, it's her moment, and if we go together, it's about us," he shared.

Listen to the Cancelled episode on Zendaya. Story continues below.

In a 2023 cover story for Elle, Zendaya was also asked about her relationship with Tom. Specifically, about photos of them on a boat ride in Venice that recently surfaced.

Instead of sharing any sweet or compelling stories about the couple's life together, Zendaya explained why she needed to deflect the question.

“Parts of my life, I accept, are going to be public,” she said. "I can't not be a person and live my life and love the person I love. But also, I do have control over what I choose to share.

"It's about protecting the peace and letting things be your own but also not being afraid to exist," the 26-year-old continued. "You can't hide. That's not fun, either. I am navigating it more than ever now."

Zendaya and Tom Holland. Image: Getty.

Thanks to their combined dislike and distrust of the fame machine, coupled with their intense need for privacy, it's clear that Zendaya and Tom will never be the couple whose image can be easily packaged up and sold.

And that could actually be a good thing.

We are currently living in an age where we demand more access to performers than ever before.

A place where fans feel vindicated in crashing a wedding and closing down an entire neighbourhood just to catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift.

Where a takedown of Hailey Bieber takes over the online world, and in the case of the Met Gala, crosses over into the physical world, all because of some imagined defence of Selena Gomez.

Celebrities do not need our pity or protection, but at the same time, the currency between their personal lives and their work has moved into a truly unhealthy place. And we all need to take a step back.

This article was originally published in August 2023 and has since been updated.

Feature image: Getty.