Tom Cruise's unusual Nicole Kidman split - and she didn't attend kids' weddings
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were once a Hollywood power couple - but their marriage ended in mysterious circumstances.
The actors met on the set of Days of Thunder in 1989 and got married in Colorado on Christmas Eve in 1990.
Cruise, 60, and Kidman, 55, adopted Isabella and Connor Cruise in 1992 and 1995 respectively - and looked very loved up when they filmed racy thriller Eyes Wide Shut together.
Nicola, who is now married to singer Keith Urban, was introduced to the Church of Scientology by her ex-husband but she didn't start following the teachings of the religion.
The world was stunned in February 2004 when Tom announced they were separating, cryptically explaining: "Nicole knows why".
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Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman had an awkward split (Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman with their children Connor and Isabella (Getty Images)However, this wasn't what Nicole claimed, with a rep telling the Daily Mail at the time: "This divorce was not her decision. Tom made the move. Nicole is in a state of shock."
Divorce papers at the time said Nicole begged him to reconsider, stating how she, "protested [Cruise's] intention to dissolve their marriage and urged him not to leave but to enter marriage counselling with her, or take other steps to address whatever problems may have existed in their marriage...
"Tom said his decision was final and he departed the parties' home."
Tom claimed their marriage had broken down in December 2000, but Nicole disputed his timeline, insisting they had celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary with friends on December 24 and had still been intimate, resulting in a pregnancy that she tragically lost.
"I had a miscarriage at the end of my marriage," Nicole told Marie Claire, having adopted daughter Isabella in 1993 followed by son Connor in 1995 with Tom.
Opening up about their fertility struggles, Nicole revealed their attempts to start a family had been marred in grief from the beginning after she suffered an "incredibly traumatic" ectopic pregnancy at the start of their marriage.
In response to Nicole's divorce papers, Tom's publicist Pat Kingsley told the Daily Mail: "Life moves on and Tom is getting on with his own future."
Hollywood stars Tom and Nicole were married in 1990 (Getty Images)
Tom and Nicole were married between 1990 and 2001 (Getty Images)The Church of Scientology and Tom have always denied the religion had anything to do with his marriage breakdown with Nicole.
Speaking about their coupling years later, Nicole said: "I would work, but I was still very much cocooned. So when I came out of it at 32, 33, it's almost like I had to grow up."
Finally, after seven months of legal wrangling, their divorce was finalised with both sharing custody of the children.
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However, the kids decided to stay in LA to live full-time with their dad when their mum moved back to Australia.
Tom raised Bella and Connor in the Church of Scientology and they have both become high-ranking members of the controversial faith.
"Connor and Isabella grew up in the church of Scientology, they've been members since they were kids," a source told PEOPLE in 2019, adding that the siblings "are completely dedicated scientologists just like Tom".
Due to her alleged excommunication status as an "SP" [Suppressive Person], the kids have kept their distance from their mother.
Appearing on GMTV in 2007, Nicole revealed that their kids called her by her first name.
"My kids don’t call me mommy, they don't even call me mom," she explained. "They call me Nicole, which I hate and tell them off for it."
Isabella's parents didn't attend her wedding (Facebook)While Nicole explored the Church of Scientology she did not become a fully-fledged member and has remained Catholic.
In 2018, she told WHO magazine: "They have made the choice to be Scientologists and as a mother, it's my job to love them.
"And I am an example of that tolerance and that's what I believe — that no matter what your child does, the child has love and the child has to know there is available love and I'm open here.
"I think that's so important because if that is taken away from a child, to sever that in any child, in any relationship, in any family — I believe it's wrong. So that’s our job as a parent, to always offer unconditional love."
Nicole has had a strained relationship with her eldest two children - and did not attend either of their weddings.
She reportedly didn't know that Bella was tying the knot with British IT consultant Max Parker in 2015 before the nuptials took place.
While Cruise was reportedly also not invited to Bella's wedding, he did know about the big day and footed the bill, instead reportedly choosing to stay away so that he wouldn't distract from the happy couple.
Connor married an Italian woman named Silvia Zanchi, who is a fellow Scientologist who also grew up in the religion, but Nicole was allegedly 'banned' from the wedding by Tom.
Connor Cruise with his dad Tom Cruise at a basketball game in Los Angeles"Tom is behind this and what he wants is as good as law," an insider told Radar Online in 2019. "Tom made the call and Connor followed."
Adding that Connor "worships the ground his father walks on" the sources added: "First, Tom would never even consider inviting Nicole to Connor's wedding because she's considered a 'suppressive person' by the church — and, second, he doesn’t want her there."
Nicole never gave up on her "lost babies" and did start to reconnect with them since lockdowns began in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic.
Bella has now achieved 'auditor' status in the UK branch of the church, which means she can now quiz other Scientology followers about their deepest, darkest secrets using an e-meter - a sort of lie detector.
In a rare promotional email sent round to Scientologists in London obtained by the Sun, Bella wrote: "Thank you to my Dad for everything.
"I would have drowned in my own problems if you hadn't been there to sup me or get me through the preliminaries."
Bella lives in Croydon, south London, as an artist and has launched her own fashion collection.
While Connor remains in the upper ranks of the Scientology church at its HQ in Clearwater, Florida and is content living a quieter life out of the spotlight.
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