Tom Hiddleston Opens Up About 'Amazing' Taylor Swift

— -- Last year, "Hiddleswift" -- the short-lived romance between Taylor Swift and actor Tom Hiddleston -- sent the media into a feeding frenzy, and had fans wondering if the whole thing was a publicity stunt.

Now, the "Avengers" actor is explaining their relationship. In the latest issue of GQ, he says, "Of course it was real."

Shortly after the release of pictures of the duo kissing near Swift's Rhode Island home last summer, the two were seen in Nashville, England and other places together. Swift even met the actor's mother within weeks of dating.

But Swift and Hiddleston called it quits in September.

"Taylor is an amazing woman. She’s generous and kind and lovely, and we had the best time,” he explained to GQ. "So we decided to go out for dinner, we decided to travel … I only know the woman I met. She’s incredible. [But] a relationship in the limelight … A relationship always takes work. And it’s not just the limelight. It’s everything else.”

There was also a large get-together for July 4 at Swift's home, featuring other couples like Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. During that party, Hiddleston wore a tank top that had "I Heart T.S." printed on it.

"We were playing a game and I slipped and hurt my back. And I wanted to protect the graze from the sun and said, ‘Does anyone have a T-shirt?’ And one of [Taylor's] friends said, ‘I’ve got this.’ We all laughed about it. It was a joke.”

The reaction online to the shirt, though, shocked the actor.

"The hardest thing is that that was a joke among friends on the Fourth of July … I just, I was surprised. I was just surprised that it got so much attention. The tank top became an emblem of this thing,” he said. "A relationship exists between two people. We will always know what it was. The narratives that are out there altogether have been extrapolated from pictures that were taken without consent or permission, with no context. Nobody had the context for that story."