Zawe Ashton has cleared up rumours that she and Tom Hiddleston wed in secret (Picture: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireImage)

Zawe Ashton has clarified her relationship status with Tom Hiddleston after it was rumoured that the couple had married in secret.

The couple met in 2019 while co-starring in the stage show Betrayal, confirming their relationship two years later in 2021 after mounting rumours.

Last month, Zoe confirmed the couple were expecting their second child amid rumours they had married in secret.

A story in Vogue sharing the announcement referred to Tom as her ‘husband’, with The Marvels star Zawe explaining to Miquita Oliver on the Miss Me? podcast how the situation unfolded.

‘We’ve been engaged for a long time,’ she explained. ‘There are … I think there have been publications that have named us husband and wife already.’

A new interview with Zawe called Tom the actor’s ‘husband’ (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

The Fresh Meat actor revealed that they had received ‘toxic paragraphs’ from family members when questioned about the rumoured marriage, confirming that they had not eloped.

‘Those text messages were very … there’s some toxic paragraphs that were thrown my way! Like “uh, okay, no invite? Whatever.” It’s like, no, no, no. It didn’t happen. We didn’t do it in secret. We haven’t eloped.’

She went on to say that she and Tom do call each other husband and wife, which adds to the confusion.

‘It’s just a semantics thing,’ she said, adding: ‘I think at some point you’re like “girlfriend, boyfriend” … with a kid and another one on the way? Does that feel right?’

Miquita joked that the couple might have to set a date soon, to which Zawe responded: ‘Yeah, but it’s also p*****g off people who are actually married. So like, you realise that’s just like … not real, yet.’

The Velvet Buzzsaw star said she and Tom had considered getting married in ‘different ways’ over the years.

Zawe shared that she had received ‘toxic’ messages from family members upset they had not received a wedding invite (Picture: Sama Kai/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Tom keeps his personal life incredibly private following his 2016 relationship with Taylor Swift (Picture: starzfly/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Addressing the relationship and his need for privacy, he told The Telegraph: ‘Everyone is entitled to a private life. I love what I do and I dedicate myself with absolute commitment to making great art and great entertainment and in my mind I don’t conflict the two.

‘My work is in the public sphere and I have a private life. And those two things are separate.’

The Avengers star continued: ‘You have to fight for love. You can’t live in fear of what people might say. You know, you have to be true to yourself.

‘I have to be so psychologically strong about not letting other people’s interpretations about my life affect my life. A relationship exists between two people. We will always know what it was.’

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