Zawe Ashton has addressed speculation that she and fiancé Tom Hiddleston secretly tied the knot.
“We’ve been engaged for a long time and there are, I think there have been publications that have named us husband and wife already,” Ashton, 41, said on the latest episode of the BBC’s “Miss Me?” podcast. “And those text messages [from our friends and family have] some toxic paragraphs that were thrown my way like, ‘OK, no invite? Whatever.’ It’s like, ‘No, no, no, it didn’t happen. We didn’t do it in secret.’ It’s just, like, a semantic thing.”
Ashton and Hiddleston, 44, recently sparked marriage rumors after reports surfaced that they refer to one another as husband and wife. (The pair have been engaged since 2022.)
“We call each other husband and wife because, at some point, [saying] girlfriend-boyfriend [when we have a] kid, and another on the way, does that feel right?” she quipped, stressing that she and Hiddleston have not formally gotten married yet. “It’s also pissing off people who are actually marrying. So, like, you realize that’s just not real yet.”
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According to Ashton, she and the Life of Chuck star have already started discussing their preferences for the big day.
“We’ve thought about it,” she added. “Just as a girl, you’re, like, ‘I wonder what that fantasy will be.’ It’s sold really well. It’s packaged up really nice.”
Ashton further stressed that getting married will be an important step for both her and Hiddleston in their relationship.
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“We’ve talked about the spiritual bond and the anchoring for what it does for you as a couple and as a family, [which] is really appealing to both of us,” Ashton said. “But also, engagement has been wonderful. You can’t cheat the process, and people [often] rush through engagement. Engagement is really useful. … That’s a big yes that opens up a whole new understanding between you and each other’s families because you are saying yes to each other’s whole line.”
She added, “I’ve loved [being] engaged because you’re learning, ‘What is this yes going to be later?’ I think that’s been very informative, and it’s been great. It’s the training ground. It is the practice [of] calling each other husband and wife. It is looking down at the ring finger and being like, OK, this is the tradition that is potentially gonna come with this first yes.’”
The two actors met playing a couple in the 2019 Broadway revival of Betrayal, eventually welcoming their first child in 2022. Ashton confirmed in June that she is pregnant with the pair’s second baby.
