Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton Are Engaged

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

Hollywood superstar Tom Hiddleston is officially engaged to actress Zawe Ashton. Hiddleston, famously reluctant to discuss his personal life, simply confirmed the engagement to the LA Times by sharing, "I’m very happy."

"Everyone is entitled to a private life," Hiddleston told The Telegraph in 2017. "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."

In June 2022, ahead of walking the carpet for the New York City premiere of her film Mr. Malcolm's List, Ashton confirmed to Vogue she's expecting. In October 2022, Us Weekly reported the two secretly welcomed their first child. They made their first appearance together as new parents at Wimbledon 2023.

In November 2023, they stepped out again:

Here's everything you need to know about Zawe Ashton and her relationship with Tom Hiddleston.

Who is Zawe Ashton?

Zawe Ashton is a London native, the daughter of two schoolteachers: an Ugandan mother and a white British father. She credits her parents with her sense of humor, explaining to the Guardian, "they are my favorite comedy double act." She also has politics in her background: Her maternal grandfather, Paulo Muwanga, briefly served as the de facto president of Uganda in May 1980, and as prime minister in August 1985.

Ashton always knew she wanted to be an actress; as she said, "It is very odd to be a very tiny person and know what you want to do." She attended the Anna Scher Theatre School and the Manchester School of Theatre. She's also an accomplished writer; she won the London Poetry Slam Championship in 2000. Her debut play, Harm's Way, was nominated fora Verity Bargate award in 2007, and her short film, Happy Toys, was nominated for best British short at the 2014 Raindance film festival.

Ashton published a memoir, Character Breakdown, in 2019, which acclaimed British writer Bernardine Evaristo selected as one of her top 20 books by Black British womxn writers. Evaristo writes of Ashton's memoir, "Smart, entertaining and compellingly honest, Character Breakdown is Zawe Ashton’s account of her acting career and how the years spent in the thespian world shaped her identity. As well as a personal memoir, Ashton serves up a razor-sharp breakdown of the glitz and gimmicks—as well as the casual racism —of modern day show business."

In the acting world, Ashton is perhaps best known for her TV roles in the British comedies Fresh Meat and Not Safe for Work, and movie roles in Dreams of a Life and the Jake Gyllenhaal-led Netflix horror film, Velvet Buzzsaw. Ashton is set to star in Mr. Malcom's List as Julia, and as a villain in The Marvels, a Captain Marvel film.

How did Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton meet?

Hiddleston and Ashton met while co-starring in a play on London's West End in 2019, a revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal. Hiddleston and Ashton played a married couple, Robert and Emma, in both the West End and Broadway productions. Funnily, Robert and Emma were previously played by another famous British couple: Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz.

They first sparked dating rumors when they attended the U.S. Open together in August 2019, but they didn't attend their first event as a couple together until September 2021.

When did Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton get engaged?

At the 2022 BAFTAs in March, a diamond ring was spotted on Ashton's finger, and People confirmed their engagement. Yet, neither commented on the news until Hiddleston's interview in the LA Times in June 2022, where he said, "I’m very happy," and revealed they got engaged in March 2022. In June 2022, Ashton confirmed they were expecting their first child in an interview with Vogue, and in October 2022, they welcomed their baby.

You Might Also Like

• 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion

• 13 Beauty Tools to Up Your At-Home Facial Game