Tom Holland fans last night revealed the extreme lengths they went to in order to catch the briefest of glimpses of the star.
Crowds of supporters from as far afield as France and even Canada gathered outside the theatre as Holland-fever swept the capital, with others travelling hours across the country to see him.
Many didn’t even have tickets for his opening night performance in Romeo and Juliet, which has had mixed reviews from critics in recent days, but rather were just waiting patiently for a five-second look at the Spider-Man star.
Holland waved and thanked onlookers as he stepped out of his car at the Duke of York Theatre on Friday, to the sound of cheers and screams.
Among those gathered were Marie, 18, and her friend Lila, 19, who took a nine-hour coach from Paris earlier this week.
The pair booked a hotel for three nights and have queued up outside the theatre every day just to catch a glimpse of the actor.
Fans wait for the arrival of Tom Holland outside the Duke of York’s Theatre on May 24
Tom Holland, 27, waves at fans waiting outside the theatre as he arrives for the show on May 24
Natalie, 19, and Anita, 49, bought pre-sale tickets to watch Tom Holland in Romeo and Juliet
Fans wait for Tom Holland outside the theatre after his performance on May 24
Tom waves to eager fans after his performance as Romeo
Helen and Grace, 21, queue up to watch the performance of Romeo and Juliet on May 24
Marie told MailOnline: ‘Yesterday we saw him, just his back but we came to see him again today.’
‘When we see him I don’t think we’ll be able to talk to him cause he’s too far away and he runs into the theatre but as long as we get to see him we are happy.’
However TC, a 26-year-old event planner, who waited an hour to watch Holland rush into the theatre, was gearing up to watch the performance from the third row of the stalls.
She said: ‘It’s just exciting. I love theatre and Tom Holland so this is my dream.
‘I got the ticket on presale for £95. I had my work phone, laptop, personal phone and as many tabs open as I could.’
In February more than 60,000 frenzied fans, including TC, scrambled to buy tickets for Holland’s West End run.
Tickets sold out in two hours.
Some compared the stress of trying to get their hands on tickets as on par with Taylor Swift ‘s Eras tour, which has brought in $1.04billion with 4.35m tickets sold across 60 tour dates.
Tickets for Romeo and Juliet are now on resale for around £300 each.
The actor, wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans, waves to his adoring fans after leaving the theatre
Tom, 27, looks grateful for his fans as he gets into a silver car after his West End performance
Tom Holland, 27, stars as Romeo in the Jamie Lloyd production alongside Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet
Serena, 23, and Yasmine, 22, were not lucky enough to secure tickets in the initial sale.
But as part of their trip to London from Toronto, the pair decided to queue up outside the theatre to see if they could get any tickets that had been returned.
Security guards had cordoned these die-hard fans off in a separate line.
Serena said: ‘I think the most I would be willing to pay for the returned tickets would be £250 per ticket and only because it’s Tom Holland and the fact that Zendaya is probably here too.’
The Canadians were later let down when no spare tickets became available but they stubbornly announced they would try again tomorrow.
