AS COMIC book lovebirds Spider-Man and MJ in the hit Marvel movies their relationship was never short of action.
But off screen, real-life couple Tom Holland and Zendaya are more “Spider-Nan” after spending their evenings knitting jumpers as gifts for their friends and family this Christmas.
In an exclusive chat, the Hollywood actress, 27, said: “People know I love to knit.
"I know it isn’t something you would normally associate with a girl my age, but it’s actually become very cool and I find it really relaxing.
“I have got Tom into knitting as well — and we’ve done jumpers for everybody this Christmas.”
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Zendaya was first linked to Tom, also 27, in 2016, after they were cast alongside each other in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
But Tom revealed that when she was not in character at the centre of the action, his stunning co-star spent her time stitching scarves on the set of Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.
On filming with Zendaya, the British actor said: “I’d be doing the most intense fight scenes on set and you used to come to set to watch quite a lot.
“I would be there with blood all over my face, I’d be fighting The Goblin, and you’d be there just knitting.”
Sitting alongside Tom on the Graham Norton Show in 2021, Zendaya added: “I loved it as a pastime.
"I love little tedious activities to keep my brain occupied. I made everyone scarves.
“I was like, ‘What am I going to get everyone for Christmas?’
“So I was like, ‘I will make them some scarves because that is what I am doing all day’.”
Zendaya and Tom confirmed their romance in July 2021 when they were spotted kissing in his £90,000 Audi sports car at a red light in Los Angeles.
Despite having a Bafta and three Spider-Man films under his belt, Tom went to great lengths to impress Zendaya — including taking up her favourite hobby last year.
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It was not long before a snap of the actor — taken by a fan during a flight — went viral on TikTok, captioned: “Your mother’s friend was sitting next to Tom Holland on the plane and she sent you a picture of him knitting.”
And despite becoming Hollywood’s latest golden couple, Zendaya said she does not feel obliged to splash out on extravagant gifts for her boyfriend, who has an estimated net worth of £20million.
She said: “There is pressure with Tom, he openly admits to being a gift returner.
"I just don’t have it in me to do it, it feels so mean.
"If I get a Christmas gift I don’t like, I just smile and say thank you. But with Tom you can definitely tell if he doesn’t like a gift.”
The couple were understood to have picked up the keys to their six-bedroom pad in Richmond, South West London, last year — four miles from Kingston upon Thames, where Tom grew up.
But California-born Zendaya revealed that cooking at their £3million home is not the perfect Christmas scene that fans would expect from their fairytale romance.
She said: “I love the thought of us both being in the kitchen cooking Christmas dinner and dancing around to Christmas music, but as idyllic as that scenario sounds, it just wouldn’t happen.
“We are both just too controlling in the kitchen and would be telling the other one what to do.
“Tom has been practising in the kitchen, so he is going to be in charge this year.”
Yet asked about the secret to their relationship, Zendaya said: “Apart from the obvious, I just think it is so important to have fun with each other.
"For us, that is laughing together, dancing together, singing together and occasionally rocking out to some Beyonce.”
Zendaya was thrust into the spotlight aged 14 through her role as Rocky Blue in Disney’s Shake It Up.
She went on to star in The Greatest Showman in 2017 as trapeze artist Anne Wheeler, alongside Zac Efron, before playing Rue Bennett — an androgynous character fresh from rehab — in HBO teen series Euphoria in 2019.
In 2021, she starred as Chani in Dune, with her character set to return to the big screen next year for part two of the adventure blockbuster, which also stars Timothee Chalamet and Florence Pugh.
However, Zendaya and Tom can never escape the rumours surrounding Spider-Man 4.
Of the Marvel film favourite returning to the cinema, Zendaya said: “There is always so much secrecy with Spider-Man . . . so there is very little I can say.
“The end of the last movie was powerful, but at the same time very sad.
“Tom and I were genuinely sad by the ending, not disappointed, but sad for the characters that they didn’t get to swing off into the sunset with each other."
And she teased: “Maybe there is still time for that.”
Meanwhile, Tom said last month that he was “actively engaging with conversations” about a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Peter Parker — but only if the next film can do the character justice.
He told entertainment website Collider: “I feel very protective over Spider-Man.
Make a stand
“I feel very, very lucky that we were able to work on a franchise that got better with each movie, that got more successful with each movie, which I think is really rare, and I want to protect his legacy.
“So I won’t make another one for the sake of making another one. It will have to be worth the while of the character.”
After rising to fame as a child star, Zendaya revealed that her parents Claire and Kazembe, both teachers, taught her the importance of standing up for herself in the male-dominated movie world.
“My parents have always just wanted me to be happy, and the best advice they have given me is to say no to things I am not comfortable with,” she said.
“I think, over the last few years in Hollywood, we have seen the importance of the word no and that it must be respected.
“As young females in the industry, we must stick together and make a stand.”
It comes after Zendaya spoke out against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in courts in New York and Los Angeles.
Speaking on the red carpet in 2017, after the allegations emerged, Zendaya said: “I mean, it’s disgusting.
“There is really no other way to put it — it is awful and that is really all I can say about that.”
Her comments came after she sang the lead in the title song for the musical adaptation of Finding Neverland in 2015, which Weinstein produced.
In support of the #MeToo movement she wrote on X/Twitter: “As a young woman in this industry I am deeply grateful to all the courageous women coming forward and speaking their truth.
“I truly thank you for making the first huge steps towards assuring that this industry will be safer for young actresses like myself.”
Looking ahead to next year, she added: “The dream for me is to keep on getting roles where I read the script and just think, ‘Yes, I want to play that character’.
“I do want to start spending time behind the camera though, I have this ambition to direct a really beautiful movie.”
