Tom Hiddleston fell uncomfortably silent when he was asked about his ex Taylor Swift in a new interview, nine years after their split.

The pair conducted a whirlwind summer romance in 2016 before going their separate ways that September in a breakup a source described as ‘amicable.’

During their relationship, Tom inspired widespread mockery when he was spotted wearing an ‘I [heart] T.S.’ tank top while frolicking on the beach with Taylor.

Now, he found himself being grilled about her again while promoting his new movie The Life of Chuck with his co-star Karen Gillan on the radio show Heart.

The opening question was about how Tom and Karen spend their evenings, to which Tom responded that he enjoys watching and reading sports coverage.

Then, host Devin Griffin said: ‘We did just find out – Taylor Swift, big fan of a sourdough recipe blog,’ prompting Tom to become quiet and expressionless.

‘They’re very very specific but I can see how you can get into that,’ Devin prodded further, as his flustered guest furrowed his brow slightly.

Karen quickly leapt to Tom’s rescue, jumping into the exchange with an answer about how the sourdough blog felt ‘like an Easter egg for something.’

She rattled off a story about how she had recently seen a TikTok about how Taylor was using the sourdough to hint that she might play next year’s Super Bowl.

The subject was then quickly changed and Karen and Tom were able to discuss their upcoming movie, with the subject of Taylor left in the rearview.

Tom and Taylor were first glimpsed out together as a couple in mid-June 2015, just after her breakup from Scottish DJ Calvin Harris.

By the end of that month, Taylor had introduced Tom to her parents in Nashville and he had introduced her to his mother in England.

They were constantly seen out together that summer, inspiring such a frenzy of publicity that after they split, Tom found himself denying allegations that they had engaged in a ‘showmance,’ via GQ.

During that outing, he was seen wearing an ‘I [heart] T.S.’ tank top and sporting a removable heart tattoo containing a ‘T’ on one of his triceps.

Tom became a global subject of derision over the tank top, which he later insisted was merely a private ‘joke’ between ‘friends.’

He explained: ‘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?”‘

A pal of Taylor’s responded by producing the ‘I [heart] T.S.’ tank top and ‘we all laughed about it,’ Tom insisted. ‘It was a joke.’

By September 2016, the romance had ended in ‘an amicable split,’ per a People source, and that fall she began her seven-year relationship with Joe Alwyn.

She has now been publicly involved with NFL superstar Travis Kelce for nearly two years, during which they have also denied ‘showmance’ allegations.

Meanwhile Tom has been engaged to actress Zawe Ashton since May 2022, five months before she gave birth to their first child.

They joyously announced this June that they are expecting their second baby – hours before Zawe debuted her bump at the London premiere of The Life of Chuck.