Tom Holland Says He Cannot Escape His ‘Lip Sync Battle’ Performance of Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’

While appearing on Gordon Ramsay’s show, Scrambled, Holland reflected on his 2017 drag performance on the reality competition that pitted two celebrities against each other in, as the title suggests, a lip-sync battle. As it turns out, Holland’s adversary on the show was none other than his now partner, Zendaya, but he may not have put in quite such a memorable performance if he had followed some advice he was given by his father. Holland said:

“What was really great about that is people didn’t know that I could dance. I kept that quiet, I don’t know why. And I came out with a bang…And then the rain machine came in. And then I was like, “F— it, I wanna wear fishnets and do this, and I want a wig and a quick-change.

When I told my dad, he was like, “Son, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t think you should do that.” I think he was just, at that time in my career, he was very worried about me becoming too famous too quickly. So he was really keen for me to not do extra TV shows that I didn’t have to do to try and maintain that part of my childhood.

Honestly, of all the pieces of work I’ve done, that I’ve put my heart and soul into, blood, sweat, and tears, the Lip Sync Battle is the thing that everyone brings up. It’s never Spider-Man, it’s never any of my other movies, it’s always Lip Sync Battle. It haunts me.”

Tom Holland Is Swinging Back Into Cinemas as Spider-Man in 2026

While it has been eight years since Holland strutted his stuff on Lip Sync Battle, it has been almost five years since he last appeared on-screen as Spider-Man, but that will change next year when Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into cinemas. This will not be the only appearance Holland is expected to make in the MCU in the coming years either, as he is thought to be returning for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The actor has been spotted in the last week filming explosive scenes for Brand New Day in Glasgow, Scotland. While there has been no official plot revealed for the movie, there have been several teases for other characters who will appear in the movie.

Jon Bernthal is returning as Frank Castle/Punisher, as is Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk. In addition to this, Michael Mando is also set to play Scorpion – finally paying off his post-credit tease from Spider-Man: Homecoming – and several more are rumored to appear in the movie. This suggests that Holland’s next Spider-Man adventure will once again be packed with heroes and villains, and, if some whispers are to be believed, will also see Robert Downey Jr. finally make his first full appearance as Doctor Doom.