Tom Hiddleston's "first real love" is a world-renowned academic.

A source said: "Lucie's a very bright, energetic, popular woman. Tom was head-over-heals for her.

"She was his first real love. They were in a serious relationship for a while when they were at uni together and then things just fizzled out as they pursued their own careers."

The two women are said to be completely different to each other in almost every way, while Tom has been described as having a "broad taste in women", having gone from dating an academic to a pop star.

The source told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "It is strange - if you could stand Lucie next to Taylor they are completely different.

"Taylor is a party-girl performer and Lucie is a brilliant academic who is doing really important research across the world. Tom obviously has a broad taste in women."

A profile on the University of Oxford website explains that Lucie works in the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, while she is also an honorary lecturer in Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

The biography adds: "She works closely with the South African government, USAID-PEPFAR, UNICEF, the World Health Organisation and Save the Children, and with other international NGOs, to provide research evidence that can improve the lives of children affected by HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa."

Meanwhile, Tom has also previously been linked to Elizabeth Olsen, although the Hollywood duo always maintained they were simply good friends.