Zendaya and Tom Holland recently sparked engagement rumours after the Euphoria star showed off her massive diamond ring on Instagram, but fans shouldn’t expect to hear wedding bells just yet.
It was a busy weekend for Zendaya, who hit the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards red carpet on Sunday 26 February just one day after attending the NAACP Image Awards. While the 26-year-old actor turned heads both nights with her stunning red carpet looks, it was the yellow diamond ring on her finger that had fans talking.
Following the 2023 SAG Awards, Zendaya took to her Instagram Story to bid her followers goodnight with a mirror selfie, in which her yellow ring was on full display. In the post, the Disney Channel alum was dressed down in a plaid sweater and pyjama pants, slippers, and fluffy headband with ears.
As she snapped the close-up mirror selfie, the lower half of her face was blocked by her phone so only her eyes, hair, and black-polished nails were visible – as well as her left ring finger, which was adorned with the yellow diamond.
Fans instantly took to social media to speculate that the yellow sparkler was an engagement ring from her boyfriend and Spider-Man co-star, Holland.
“Is Zendaya engaged? She’s wearing a huge rock in her Goodnight IG story,” asked one fan on Twitter.
“Is Zendaya engaged?! Her last story on Insta?? Tell me why she’s got a massive rock on her wedding ring finger !!” someone else tweeted.
However, the massive piece of jewellery is no engagement ring. In fact, Zendaya gifted it to herself in 2021 and has been wearing it ever since.
The Emmy award-winner, who has been an ambassador for Bulgari since February 2020, took advantage of her employee discount when she bought herself the yellow diamond ring from the luxury jewellery brand two years ago. According to People, the ring is a whopping 21.14 carats, with two trapeze diamonds on the side.
In a 2021 cover story for British Vogue, Zendaya spoke about treating herself to the fancy Bulgari ring. “This is my splurge, my treat-myself,” she said at the time. “I do get a little employee discount. It feels like it’s gonna be an heirloom, like one day I can give it to my grandchildren.”
This isn’t the first time Zendaya and Holland have sparked engagement rumours, despite keeping much of their romance private. In December 2022, reports surfaced that the couple were in “settling-down mode” and planning for their future together after a source told US Weekly that the actors seem to have a “serious and permanent” relationship.
“They’re both in settling-down mode and are absolutely planning for a real future together,” the outlet reported.
However, Zendaya’s mother Claire Stoermer seemingly shut down these rumours when she posted a cryptic message about clickbait to her Instagram story.
That same year, the Dune star was forced to shut down pregnancy rumours after fans posted prank TikTok videos about her expecting a child, while “Zendaya pregnant” became a trending topic on Twitter. “See no, this is why I stay off Twitter…Just making stuff up for no reason..weekly,” she wrote on her Instagram story.
The couple were first rumoured to be dating back in 2016, after they starred opposite each other in the film Spider-Man: Homecoming. However, the romance rumours were confirmed in July 2021 when Page Six captured photos of the two kissing in the car.
Holland previously spoke about how he and his girlfriend felt “robbed of [their] privacy” when the photos leaked. “One of the downsides of our fame is that privacy isn’t really in our control anymore, and a moment that you think is between two people that love each other very much is now a moment that is shared with the entire world,” he told GQ in November 2021.
“I’ve always been really adamant to keep my private life private, because I share so much of my life with the world anyway,” he added. “We sort of felt robbed of our privacy.”
Despite the constant speculation about their relationship, Zendaya has praised her fans for being respectful of her privacy and boundaries. “They’re really understanding that I’m human, even the hardcore ones and they want me to be happy and I genuinely feel that from them,” Zendaya said in a July 2022 cover story for Vogue Italia.
“They’re really respectful of my boundaries and the things that I choose to keep a little bit more private and keep for myself.”
