Zendaya: 'Tom Holland is one of my best friends'

Zendaya is continuing to shoot down rumors of a romance with her Spider-Man: Homecoming co-star Tom Holland, insisting he's simply one of her "best friends".

The young actors have been romantically linked for several weeks, but last month (Jul17), Zendaya and Tom tried to brush off the ongoing speculation by poking fun at the dating claims on Twitter.

"Wait wait... my favorite is when it says we go on vacations together HA! I haven’t been on a vacation in years! hbu (how about you) @TomHolland1996???," the K.C. Undercover beauty joked, prompting the Brit to respond, "Does the press tour count??"

Despite their light-hearted responses, fans were quick to point out that they didn't exactly deny the reports outright, leading some to hold out hope of a secret romance.

However, Zendaya has now made it crystal clear she and Tom are not an item, although she admits they have become really great friends, bonding over their experiences in the public eye.

"We are friends," she tells Variety magazine in its Power of Young Hollywood issue. "He's a great dude. He's literally one of my best friends. This past how many months we've had to do press tours together. There's very few people that will understand what that's like at 20 years old."

Zendaya reveals she hit it off with Tom during their very first audition, although she was concerned that at 5'10 (1.78 meters), she would tower over the 21-year-old, who portrays the titular superhero and his teenage alter ego Peter Parker.

"I was worried because he's so much shorter than me," she recalls of their initial meeting. "I was like, 'Damn it! It's going to be weird because I'm super tall.' But then we ended up doing the audition sitting. So that was good."

But she wasn't the only one with concerns about their first greeting: "He says when we first met it was super awkward because he went for a handshake and I went for a hug," shares Zendaya, who plays geeky classmate Michelle. "But I don't remember that. I thought it was cool."

Both stars are expected to reprise their roles for the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, which is slated for release in July, 2019.