Love is a risky business. Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men — and he’s had his fair share of famous flames off screen.
The Jack Reacher star has been married three times: to Mimi Rogers from 1987 to 1990, to Nicole Kidman from 1990 to 2001 and to Katie Holmes from 2006 to 2012. As his career continued to skyrocket, his splits gained more attention.
When his 11-year marriage to the Big Little Lies alum came to an end, fans suspected that Cruise’s participation in Scientology was to blame. He later addressed his desire to keep the reason behind the decision private.
“She knows why, and I know why,” he told Vanity Fair of the split. “She’s the mother of my children, and I wish her well. And I think that you just move on. And I don’t say that lightly. I don’t say that with anything. Things happen in life, and you do everything you can, and in every possible way, and there’s a point at which you just sometimes have to face the brutal reality.”
Kidman, for her part, told the same outlet in 2002 that she “fell madly, passionately in love” with her former spouse. “He basically swept me off my feet. … And as happens when you fall in love, my whole plan in terms of what I wanted for my life — I was like, ‘Forget it. This is it,’” she added. “I was consumed by it, willingly. And I was desperate to have a baby with him. I didn’t care if we were married.”
At the time of their split, the Moulin Rouge! actress experienced an ectopic pregnancy. The now-exes adopted two children during their marriage, who Kidman has attempted to remain “very private” about through the years.
“I have to protect those relationships. I know 150 percent that I would give up my life for my children because it’s what my purpose is,” she told Australia’s Who magazine in 2019. “They are adults. They are able to make their own decisions. They have made choices to be Scientologists and, as a mother, it’s my job to love them.”
Following his split from the Undoing star, Cruise moved on with Holmes, with whom he welcomed a daughter in 2006. They tied the knot the same year, but the Dawson’s Creek alum filed for divorce in 2012.
At the time of their separation, a source told Us Weekly that Kidman had reached out to Holmes. Years later, the Batman Begins star opened up about her transition into single motherhood.
“That time was intense,” she said in her April 2020 InStyle cover story. “It was a lot of attention, and I had a little child on top of it. … [I want] to make sure she is 100 percent herself and strong, confident, and able. And to know it.”
Scroll down for a closer look at Cruise’s most famous relationships and flings:
Love is a risky business. Tom Cruise is one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men — and he’s had his fair share of famous flames off screen.
The Jack Reacher star has been married three times: to Mimi Rogers from 1987 to 1990, to Nicole Kidman from 1990 to 2001 and to Katie Holmes from 2006 to 2012. As his career continued to skyrocket, his splits gained more attention.
When his 11-year marriage to the Big Little Lies alum came to an end, fans suspected that Cruise’s participation in Scientology was to blame. He later addressed his desire to keep the reason behind the decision private.
“She knows why, and I know why,” he told Vanity Fair of the split. “She’s the mother of my children, and I wish her well. And I think that you just move on. And I don’t say that lightly. I don’t say that with anything. Things happen in life, and you do everything you can, and in every possible way, and there’s a point at which you just sometimes have to face the brutal reality.”
Kidman, for her part, told the same outlet in 2002 that she “fell madly, passionately in love” with her former spouse. “He basically swept me off my feet. … And as happens when you fall in love, my whole plan in terms of what I wanted for my life — I was like, ‘Forget it. This is it,’” she added. “I was consumed by it, willingly. And I was desperate to have a baby with him. I didn’t care if we were married.”
At the time of their split, the Moulin Rouge! actress experienced an ectopic pregnancy. The now-exes adopted two children during their marriage, who Kidman has attempted to remain “very private” about through the years.
“I have to protect those relationships. I know 150 percent that I would give up my life for my children because it’s what my purpose is,” she told Australia’s Who magazine in 2019. “They are adults. They are able to make their own decisions. They have made choices to be Scientologists and, as a mother, it’s my job to love them.”
Following his split from the Undoing star, Cruise moved on with Holmes, with whom he welcomed a daughter in 2006. They tied the knot the same year, but the Dawson’s Creek alum filed for divorce in 2012.
At the time of their separation, a source told Us Weekly that Kidman had reached out to Holmes. Years later, the Batman Begins star opened up about her transition into single motherhood.
“That time was intense,” she said in her April 2020 InStyle cover story. “It was a lot of attention, and I had a little child on top of it. … [I want] to make sure she is 100 percent herself and strong, confident, and able. And to know it.”
Scroll down for a closer look at Cruise’s most famous relationships and flings:
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Melissa Gilbert
The pair were linked in the 1980s, but Gilbert later clarified that theirs was an innocent connection. “I did not have sex with him. We made out, but honestly, there was no sex. He was a good kisser, but you know, he was like a struggling, starving actor and I was working. I actually bought him his first set of dishes,” she joked during a 2014 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
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Heather Locklear
Locklear recalled going on a single date with Cruise after meeting him at an audition early on in his career — but they weren’t destined for love. “You know in Risky Business where he does that dance in his underwear and does the splits? We were dancing at a club and he went into that,” she said on a 2013 episode of Chelsea Lately. “He started doing the splits. You just kind of stand there and don’t know what to do. Do you dance around him?”
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Rebecca De Mornay
The Risky Business costars brought their chemistry into the real world in 1983 but they broke up after roughly two years.
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Cher
The Moonstruck actress told Andy Cohen in 2013 that her 1985 fling with the Golden Globe winner was one of her top five lovers ever.
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Mimi Rogers
One year after they met, Cruise and Rogers tied the knot in May 1987. They divorced three years later. “I’d never been in love before. Since I’ve been with her, it’s opened me up a lot. I think it’s helped me be a better actor,” he told Rolling Stone ahead of their split. “We live a lot of life together. We share everything. … She’s my best friend.”
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Nicole Kidman
The duo met while working together on Days of Thunder and got married in 1990. They went on to adopt children Isabella Jane (born 1992) and Connor Antony (born 1995) before splitting in 2001.
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Penélope Cruz
The Vanilla Sky costars connected shortly after Cruise’s divorce from Kidman, making their red carpet debut at the premiere of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin in August 2001. Both denied that their romance was the cause of Cruise and Kidman’s split, and by 2004, they’d called it quits themselves.
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Nazanin Boniadi
Cruise and the General Hospital actress — who is also a member of Scientology — dated from November 2004 to January 2005. Several years later, a Vanity Fair article claimed that Boniadi was selected by the organization specifically for Cruise. (The Church of Scientology denied the allegations.)
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Katie Holmes
The former couple — lovingly known as TomKat — remain one of the most iconic of the mid-2000s despite their eventual split. Cruise’s feelings were so strong they caused him to jump up and down on a couch while declaring his love for Holmes on TV in 2005. They welcomed a daughter in 2006 months before they tied the knot in Italy. Holmes filed for divorce in 2012.
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Laura Prepon
The Orange Is the New Black alum was rumored to be dating Cruise in 2014, but she swiftly shut down the speculation. “It’s just so funny that when people don’t know, they just make stuff up,” she told SheKnows at the time. “Apparently I’m dating Tom Cruise right now.” Prepon wed Ben Foster four years later, and in 2021, she revealed that she was no longer practicing Scientology.
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Hayley Atwell
While working together on Mission: Impossible 7 in 2020, the costars were rumored to be an item, but never addressed the claims. In July 2021, they were spotted at the Wimbledon tournament in London with fellow Mission: Impossible actress Pom Klementieff.
