LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Tom Cruise set off a media storm after he was rumored to be dating Shakira. The 60-year-old ‘Top Gun’ star is in the headlines again, but this time, he has been linked with his ‘Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1’ co-star and former flame Hayley Atwell, who set off rumors of a romance with a social media post.
Atwell took to Instagram on Friday, May 27, to post a still from ‘Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1’ before the movie drops on July 12. In the photo, Cruise and the actress are handcuffed together and are holding hands. “I adore this picture of Ethan and Grace! This was a fantastic day on set in beautiful Rome,” she captioned the post. The actress's new post reportedly gave rise to a slew of unfounded dating rumors, with a user asking “Are you back 2gether." However, the rumors ended as swiftly as they started after Atwell clarified that there was nothing between them and she was just really great friends with Cruise.
RELATED NEWS
'Tom and Hayley's relationship was genuine'
Cruise and Atwell initially got fans talking in 2020 when they were sighted together at different locations while working. At that time, insiders claimed that Atwell and Cruise hit it off right from the start and had been close since. However, things didn’t last between the pair and they decided to call things off. "Tom and Hayley's relationship was genuine. In spite of some rumors to the contrary, it was never just for the cameras,” sources told The Sun in May 2022 when the two actors were spotted together at the premiere of 'Top Gun: Maverick'.
Following the rumors, Atwell told Country & Townhouse that she did love Cruise but in a more platonic way. "I felt like if I ever was worried about it, I could talk to him [Tom]. And I know that he would’ve said, ‘People say whatever they want to say, but you know who you are, I know who I am and I want you to feel safe in this environment,’" she said. Atwell recently got engaged to actor Ned Wolfgang Kelly.
When did Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes separate?
Cruise and Holmes exchanged vows in 2006 and went on to welcome their daughter, Suri, the same year. However, their marriage didn’t last long and they divorced in 2012. Following their separation, Cruise admitted that Holmes' desire to protect Suri from Scientology was a factor in their divorce. However, Cruise was linked to a number of other A-listers after that.
Laura Prepon
After his divorce, Cruise, who has been married thrice, maintains a low profile and rarely speaks about his personal life. However, his love life became the talk of the town in 2013 when he was spotted having dinner with Laura Prepon in Los Angeles. In 2014, Page Six reported that the duo had been “secretly dating” for months. However, The 'Orange Is the New Black' alum soon debunked the rumors. She reportedly said, “It's just so funny that when people don't know, they just make stuff up. Apparently I'm dating Tom Cruise right now,” according to US Magazine.
Vanessa Kirby
After Prepon, Cruise is said to have set his sights on Kirby, who made a name for himself with her performance as Princess Margaret in ‘The Crown’. Even though neither has confirmed any of these rumors, sources stated in 2017 that Cruise was smitten with her and thought she would be “perfect to be his next wife.” "He’s blown her away with his endless charm and energy. He thinks she’s perfect to be his next wife," an insider said, according to The Independent. The two were even spotted kissing on the sets of ‘Mission Impossible 6’ but Kirby refuted the claims, stating that it was just a part of a scene.
Elisabeth Moss
Moss and Cruise have been linked in the past over their involvement with The Church of Scientology. The two were rumored to be engaged but Moss made it clear that any speculation about a relationship between the two was hearsay. “I actually was confused,” Moss said in response to the rumors, per US Magazine. “[I] mainly got texts from people being like, ‘I didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me?’ And just confusion from my friends, but mainly poking fun at it ‘cause obviously they knew it wasn’t true,” she added.
Shakira
Cruise was recently linked to Shakira after they were spotted together at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami in May. Sources reportedly claimed that the ‘Mission Impossible’ star was "extremely interested in pursuing" Shakira, and was "desperate" for a date. However, the Colombian singer stated that she was not interested in dating right now while laughing off rumors about a romance with Cruise, according to The Mirror.
