Zendaya is officially 27! And nobody is happier about that than her boyfriend Tom Holland, who took to Instagram stories on Friday, September 1, to celebrate the Emmy winner‘s birthday with a sweet tribute. In the first photo, the Dune beauty sat on a boat in full snorkeling gear, hilariously giving the camera a “thumbs up.” She was clearly enjoying the outing fully, her hair wet from a dip in the water. “My birthday girl,” the Spider-Man: No Way Home star captioned the pic, along with a heart eyes emoji.
A second pic showed the actress taking wide strides in a tree-filled park as she walked two leashed dogs. She wore a beige sweater and matching pants, accessorizing with white sneakers. Her hair flew up behind her as she enjoyed the energetic outing. Tom captioned the photo with a simple row of heart eye emojis.
The rare pics are a personal glimpse into Tom and Zendaya’s extremely private relationship. And in a 2021 interview, Tom opened up about why he and his girlfriend work on keeping it that way. “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 at the time.
Tom was referring to passionate kissing photos taken in Los Angeles in 2021, laying bare their apparent relationship. “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 told the outlet. “We sort of felt robbed of our privacy. I don’t think it’s about not being ready — it’s just that we didn’t want to [talk about it].”
Zendaya also weighed in. “It was quite strange and weird and confusing and invasive,” she said of the pics. “The equal sentiment [we share] is just that when you really love and care about somebody, some moments or things, you wish were your own. I think loving someone is a sacred thing and a special thing and something that you want to deal with and go through and experience and enjoy amongst the two people that love each other.”