Tom Holland confirms wedding to Zendaya and addresses viral AI pics

Earlier this year, rumours that Tom Holland and Zendaya had secretly got married spread across social media, with AI-generated wedding photos racking up millions of likes and leaving some fans unsure whether they were real.

Now, Tom Holland has confirmed the couple have tied the knot. Speaking to Esquire magazine, he revealed that his grandmother saw the fake wedding photos and thought she had missed the big day. When asked whether he had to reassure any other family members, Holland replied: “No, because they were all there.” He refused to say anything more, adding: “That’s all you’ll get on that.”

So why did so many people believe the AI images in the first place?

The story behind the Zendaya and Tom Holland AI wedding photos

Speculation that a wedding between the two celebrities was imminent began to gain traction online after Zendaya was spotted with a diamond ring on the fourth finger of her left hand at the 2025 Golden Globes. This is the finger where an engagement ring is traditionally worn.

A few months later, the actor referred to Zendaya as his “fiancée” during a public appearance at a panel discussion.The AI photos emerged after Zendaya’s stylist Law Roach said that “the wedding has already happened” and that we “missed it” while speaking to Access Hollywood on the red carpet at the 2026 Actor Awards on 1 March.

What did the photos show?

At first glance, the photos look pretty realistic. They show a smiling Zendaya and Tom in their wedding outfits and the couple exchanging vows - all against a background that looks like Lake Como.

Photos shared by a creator called AK on X on 4 March also appeared to show Robert Downey Jr, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Jake Gyllenhaal at the wedding. This post had over 100,000 likes.

A viral Instagram photo dump of AI-generated ‘wedding day’ images, including one showing “Tom” holding a Spider-Man mask, received more than 10 million likes.

The caption said the images had been created with AI as an “artistic recreation” but some people appear to have been fooled and have commented to say congratulations. Others were less impressed and said they couldn’t believe an AI image had had so many likes. One of these comments on Instagram said: “AI slop getting 10 million likes… what has the world come to”.

Some remarked on how it can be difficult to tell the difference between AI and real photos as technology advances. One person questioned: “It’s real?” while another wrote: “Can’t tell if it’s AI”.

What did Tom and Zendaya say about it?

Up until now, there had been no confirmation about a wedding from the couple themselves. Information straight from the source is always a good way to verify a story. This wasn’t enough to prevent people from taking their interest in the wedding a step further and creating AI photos.

When assessing the authenticity of celebrity images, we also need to consider who shared the photo and for what purpose. Has it come from an official account or been shared by a verified source like a reputable photo agency or a trusted news outlet?

Why are AI photos like this created?

Sharing these photos may be wish fulfilment on the part of fans who feel invested in the romance between the two actors. Tom and Zendaya very rarely share information about their relationship, creating a vacuum into which people sometimes project their own ideas of what they want to see happen.

People tend to believe posts like this when it’s something they want. Posts that carry misinformation often go viral because they contain images and stories that are exaggerated to deliberately hook our attention - even when fans know it’s unlikely to be real.

Tom and Zendaya aren’t the only celebrities to have big moments from their lives imagined in the form of AI images.

YouTuber Joe Sugg recently spoke out after photos on social media showed him and partner Dianne Buswell with their newborn baby. However the images were also AI generated - and at the time they were shared Dianne hadn’t given birth.