So, is there something Matt and Anya aren’t telling us?
As Crown star and the Queen’s Gambit actress get very cosy in Venice, their fans are asking...
IT is a touching moment shared by two of showbusiness’s most bankable stars – who apparently thought they were out of camera range.
But Anya Taylor-Joy’s tender caress of Matt Smith’s brow has prompted speculation that the Doctor Who actor has again found romance with a co-star.
The couple certainly appeared smitten yesterday as they made their way to the Venice Film Festival together on a classic wooden speedboat.
As they powered through the canals and took in the sights of the romantic Italian city, Matt, 38, rested his arm languidly around Anya.
The Queen’s Gambit actress, 25, dressed in a floor-length pink floral frock, brushed her leading man’s hair away from his eyes and gazed affectionately at him as her hand lingered on his jaw.
Moments later, the couple were posing on the red carpet to promote their new film, the psychological thriller Last Night In Soho.
When their journey began along the Grand Canal to the Venice Lido, where the red carpet awaited them, the pair were seated apart but quickly moved closer to each other.
‘They thought they were out of camera range’
And even when they knew they were in full view of the cameras, The Crown star placed a hand around Anya’s waist as they posed for photographers.
It was the first time he has been pictured making a romantic gesture with another woman since his split from Lily James in December 2019 after a five-year relationship.
Smith met Ms James on the set of Pride And Prejudice in 2014.
They parted amid rumours that Matt had become close to Claire Foy, 37, the actress who played the Queen to his Prince Philip in The Crown.
Ms James was understood to have been upset at the nature of their friendship and dumped him.
Smith had previously dated Daisy
Lowe, 32, the model daughter of singer Pearl Lowe and part of the celebrity Primrose Hill set, and the Brazilian model Mayana Moura.
He has also previously been linked to singer-turned-actress Billie Piper and another thespian, Emilia Clarke.
Meanwhile, Anya, was pictured with her rocker boyfriend Malcolm McRae, 27, in May with reports two months later suggesting they were set to move in together in Los Angeles. However, she revealed in an interview with Tatler magazine last month that she had spent lockdown in a recently bought house in East London.
‘It feels so good to have a place to dump my stuff in between movies,’ she said.
‘Up until six months ago, I went to every meeting with two giant suitcases trailing behind me.’