Tom Hiddleston has finally opened up about why he wore THAT Taylor Swift tank top

About time!

Tom Hiddleston tank top

About time!

Tom Hiddleston has finally spoken out about his three month whirlwind romance with Taylor Swift in the summer of 2016, better known as Hiddleswift.

At first we were all excited to see the Bad Blood singer and the star of The Night Manger getting cosy, but after they got caught kissing on the beach, jetting around England and Australia and engaging in various other romantic activities after just a few weeks, we all got a bit confused. Then came the famous 'I heart T.S' tank top that Tom wore to one of Taylor’s summer parties and the whole world got suspicious, questioning the couple’s authenticity.

Some thought the relationship was fake, others thought that it was a publicity stunt – some even speculated that the pair were just filming an upcoming (and very elaborate) Taylor Swift music video.

In a recent interview with GQ, however, Tom Hiddleston put all those rumours to rest, insisting ‘of course it was real’.

‘Taylor is an amazing woman’ he explained, ‘she’s generous and kind and lovely, and we had the best time. I only know the woman I met. She’s incredible’

He continued: ‘A relationship takes work. A relationship in the limelight takes work. And it’s not just the limelight, It’s everything else.’

Tom Hiddleston

Tom Hiddleston

On the topic of why the tank top picture went so viral, Tom seemed as confused as all of us, but when asked why he wore it, he had an explanation:

‘The truth is, it was the Fourth of July and a public holiday and we were playing a game and I slipped and hurt my back. And I wanted to protect the graze from the sun and said, “Does anyone have a T-shirt?” And one of her friends said, “I’ve got this”, puling out the tank top. ‘And we all laughed about it’ Tom continued, ‘It was a joke. It was a joke among friends.’

He added: ‘I was just surprised that it got so much attention. The tank top became an emblem of this thing.’

‘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. The narratives that are out there altogether have been extrapolated from pictures that were taken without consent or permission, with no context. Nobody had the context for that story. And I’m still trying to work out a way of having a personal life and protecting it, but also without hiding. So the hardest thing is that that was a joke among friends on the Fourth of July.’

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.