Tom Hiddleston avoided Taylor Swift talk when quizzed by Benedict Cumberbatch for Interview magazine

Benedict - who is married to theatre and opera director Sophie Hunter with whom he has a son, Christopher - assured Tom that he would not interrogate him about Taylor, who he split from in September.

Benedict, 40, said: "There's another weight of us being in the public eye, which is this presumption that, because your work and your promotion work is very public, your private life should be, too. And, without getting into a huge debate, I just want to say that I'm not going to ask questions about my friend's personal life just because there are unsolicited photographs of him and a certain someone, in a relationship or together. I'm not going to get into that. So that door is closed, dear reader."

Prompting Tom, 35, to reply "Thank you."

Benedict then added: "You're welcome. I know you'd do the same for me."

Since the end of their three-month romance, Tom has spoken about the 'Shake It Off' hitmaker only to insist they are on good terms despite the break-up.