A Chinese online marketplace has cracked down on vendors who were offering customers the opportunity to "insure" themselves against a Taylor Swift/Tom Hiddleston split.
According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, popular website Taobao has shut down several vendors who were flouting the country's ban on gambling by offering "insurance policies" which would provide Swifties with a payout if the couple broke up, doubling it if they did so within the year.
(If you're curious about the odds on that last one, Swift's relationship with Calvin Harris – which ended in early June after 15 months of dating – has been her longest in the public eye. The 26-year-old's previous celebrity relationships with Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner, John Mayer, Jack Gyllenhaal, Conor Kennedy and Harry Styles each lasted three months or less.)
One seller told Xinhua they had made over 543 "transactions" regarding the future of Swift's current relationship. Another said the highest amount someone had spent on Swift "insurance" was 400 yuan ($80).
Schemes that allowed customers to bet on whether Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom would split, as well as the outcome of the US presidential election, were also removed.
In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Alibaba Group, which owns Taobao, confirmed the "insurance policies" had been removed from sale.
"As it is not strictly an insurance product, the sellers are not qualified as insurance sellers," the company said. "So we have taken down such 'products' from the Taobao platform."
Swift and Hiddleston have embarked on a whirlwind, and very public, romance since they were first photographed kissing on a Rhode Island beach two weeks ago.
Following rumours that Hiddleston, 35, is the current frontrunner for the title role in the James Bond franchise, British tabloid The Sun ran the picture on its front page with the caption: "Tinker Taylor snogs a spy."
In the space of a fortnight, they have visited each other's parents on both sides of the Atlantic (stopping by Nashville to see the Swifts and attend a Selena Gomez concert, before flying to the UK to meet Hiddleston's family) and are now enjoying an Italian holiday.
The couple flew by private jet from Hiddleston's mother's home in Suffolk, England, to Rome, where they have enjoyed a private tour of the Colosseum, a trip to the Vatican, as well as a helicopter tour of the city.
All of these excursions have been uncharacteristically well attended by the paparazzi, who struggled to take a shot of Swift and Harris during their one-year anniversary beach vacation in March.
The increased media presence has prompted cynics to suggest the relationship is a set-up, citing Hiddleston's reported consideration for the Bond role as the reason behind his need for a profile boost.
US daytime television host Wendy Williams made such an argument on her show on Monday, describing Hiddleston, who attended the exclusive Eton College three years ahead of Prince Harry, as "an opportunist".
"I'd never heard of this guy before – so how do you drum up votes [to become Bond]?"
Commenters on social media have also remained sceptical of the couple, with some suggesting Swift wants a Bond role of her own.
Are people really buying #TaylorSwift & #TomHiddleston's publicity stunt of a romance? Everything looks so staged & fake! #Hiddleswift— Amena (@Fashionopolis) June 24, 2016
I wouldn't put it pass Taylor Swift to be going out with Tom Hiddleston because she reckons he'll be Bond and she wants to do the theme tune— Megan Williams (@MegRoseWilliams) June 29, 2016
@taylorswift13 is not only going to sing the next Bond theme, but will also play a Bond girl #Hiddleswift #GreatAudition— Tony Brown (@TheCowboyBirder) June 16, 2016
Swifties now wait with bated breath as to what Hiddleswift will do next. At this rate, the couple could be married with two kids by November.
