It seemed like a match made in heaven when Tom Cruise jumped up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s sofa and declared his love for his new flame, Katie Holmes.
But after seven years of marriage, the ultimate Hollywood spark had faded and the A-list couple divorced after having a daughter, Suri, together.
Tom and Katie announced in June 2012 they were divorcing; an announcement that sent shockwaves through Hollywood.
They had been married for six years after tying the knot in a Scientologist ceremony in Italy in 2006. However, as the marriage went on, cracks began to appear, with sources close to Katie suggesting she felt increasingly intimidated by the church, in which Tom remains a powerful figure today.
Twelve years on from the split, Katie, now 45, is working in theatre and has turned her hand to directing films – while Suri, now 17-years-old, has even featured singing on the soundtracks of some of her mother’s films.
Katie Holmes, 45, and Suri Cruise, 17, have lived together in New York City since Holmes split from Tom Cruise in 2012 (pictured this weekend)
Neither mother nor daughter are said to have contact with Tom Cruise, as a source revealed last year that the Top Gun star has ‘no part’ in his daughter’s life, as she begins to prepare for higher education and attempts to pursue a career in fashion.
A source told Dailymail.com: ‘Suri is applying to schools all over the place. [Katie] really does want her to stay in New York so they can be close to each other. Katie takes great pride in her but is also extremely overprotective.’
The insider added Katie was ‘overwhelmed’ by the idea of her daughter going to college as Suri is said to be ‘leaning towards’ fashion school.
Following the split from Cruise, Katie Holmes was granted full custody of their daughter, with Suri’s father having frequent and ‘meaningful’ visitation rights
Although Cruise pays approximately $400,000 in child support to Holmes for Suri, he is said to have ‘no part’ in his daughter’s life
They revealed that Tom does ‘not have a part in [Suri’s] life’ – after it was previously revealed that the pair have not seen each other in years.
When the couple split in, 2012, it was reported that Katie had chosen to end the couple’s marriage over fears about raising her daughter as a Scientologist – a religion that Tom is incredibly dedicated to.
Her decision to quit the religion, as well as the marriage, caused a major rift between the former spouses, which has seen Tom and Suri’s relationship become increasingly distant over the years.
Divorce documents at the time revealed that Katie Holmes would receive $400,000 every year from multi-millionaire Tom in the way of child support until Suri turns 18.
The Hollywood actor would also pay for Suri’s medical and dental expenses as well as her insurance, education costs and college tuition. The money is reportedly paid by electronic transfer.
Regarding Suri’s education, the couple agreed their daughter would not attend boarding school (which quashed rumours she would attend a Scientology-led institution).
Katie was granted sole custody of their daughter while Tom was allowed ‘meaningful’ visitation rights.
As Suri reaches adolescence and begins a new stage of her life, another source close to Katie told Dailymail.com: ‘Being raised by a single mom in New York has made Suri who she is. Katie has always put Suri first and Suri loves her mom more than anything.
‘She is a smart girl, and she is turning into a very intelligent mature woman. She has a very close group of loyal friends, and she knows exactly where she comes from.’
Throughout her childhood Katie did her best to keep Suri out of the limelight as best as possible. However, since the teenager turned 16, the actress has begun to reveal a little more about her daughter’s life.
In 2021, a trailer for a rom-com starring and directed by Holmes, Alone Together, featured Suri singing Blue Moon on the soundtrack, as her mother praised her daughter as ‘the best’.
Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment about her decision to cast her daughter as the singer of the cover, Holmes was full of praise for Suri.
She said: ‘I always want the highest level of talent. So I asked her! She’s very, very talented. She said she would do it and she recorded it, and I let her do her thing.’
In the same interview, Holmes revealed she had also enlisted Suri to sing in another film she had directed, Rare Objects.
Despite two very impressive credits to her name and being the daughter of two of Hollywood’s biggest names, Holmes insisted Suri remained, for the most part, ‘a 16-year-old kid doing high school’.
Aside from a potential singing career (with a little help from her mother), Suri is thought to be something of a fashionista who inspires her mother, with Holmes recently revealing she sometimes pinches accessories from her daughter.
Back in 2011 when Suri was just four years old, Katie Holmes told Elle that her daughter would often pass comment on her clothes.
She revealed: ‘Today I’m wearing brown suede pants, and she said, ‘I don’t like your pants.’ But then she’ll say, ‘You’ve got to wear these shoes.’ Or ‘That’s so pretty, Mom. Wear that.’ She’s got a great eye.’
During an interview with InStyle in 2020, Holmes sat down to chat while wearing her then 14-year-old daughter’s purple hair scrunchie.
She revealed that, by then, Suri had surpassed the ‘girlie stage’ of her life and was becoming her own person.
Gushing with affection for her daughter, Holmes said she had raised Suri to be independent and hard working.
‘She came out very strong — she’s always been a strong personality. She’ll pick an activity and work her butt off until she’s really good at it,’ Holmes described.
‘Then she’s like, “OK, I’m going to try the next thing.” She’s very focused and a hard worker.’
As for Holmes herself, the actress who made her debut as the coy-yet-boisterous Joey in Dawson’s Creek has honed her artistic flair in recent years, taking on directing projects including a lockdown romance film on which Suri sang.
Katie was inspired to write Alone Together after seeing the legend in the 1987 film Baby Boom.
Since her split with Tom, Katie had a private relationship with Jamie Foxx for several years from 2013 until 2019, with the couple only revealing their romance to the public shortly before the split.
She also dated chef Emilio Vitolo and Bobby Wooten III.