Cher and Tom Cruise were together for a few months in 1985 after meeting at Sean Penn and Madonna's wedding.
It seems like an unlikely pairing, but Cher, 74, and Tom Cruise, 58, were reportedly together back in the 1980s. They kept their relationship under the wraps for two decades before Cher opened up about it and counted the Top Gun actor among her top five romantic partners. However, she has no memory of saying it.
"I don’t deny that I said it, but I do not remember saying it," she said, as per Daily Mail.
She told the publication that they met at Sean Penn and Madonna’s wedding in Malibu in 1985. Back then, Cruise was 22 and their 16-year age gap didn't stop them from dating each other. In 1985, he had just tasted success with the box-office hit Risky Business, and was on his way to more fame and success. Meanwhile, Cher was already a star.
"Then a bunch of people who were dyslexic were invited to the White House, and Tom and I are both dyslexic," she said. Back then, The Washington Post described Cruise's attire as a "1920s-chic gangster suit" and Cher was "draped in black and gray gabardine with a sculpted hairstyle best described as haute punk goddess," as per the Daily Mail. The White House event took place in October 1985. However, they didn't start seeing each other until later.
That evening, they only felt a "connection there" and "didn't go out till way later."
In 2008, how Cher described him as a romantic partner was very different from what the world saw when he got engaged to Katie Holmes. "It was a long, long time ago and neither one of us ever talked about it and I don’t know why. When we were together he was such a private person. He always has been until lately. He didn’t mention it and I didn’t mention it. I loved him though, he was amazing. Now it’s hard for me to look at this person and this press. How many times can I watch him jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch?" said the Strong Enough singer, as quoted by HuffPost. Cruise had hopped on the talk show host's couch while declaring his love for Holmes.
Despite the snide comment, she did gush about him during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2008, reported by InStyle. "I was so crazy about him," she told the talk show host. "He was so wonderful … And he was so, like, different. He was a shy boy."
However, she also clarified that they didn't just date. There was more to their relationship than they ever disclosed. When Winfrey asked her about their "date", the Song For The Lonely singer said, "That was a long date — I lived in his apartment." However, it is unlikely that they were together for very long, and split up within months.
To Andy Cohen, she said, "It was pretty hot and heavy for a little minute. The person that I knew was a great, lovable guy."
By January 1986, they had gone their separate ways. The Dark Lady singer said that they split up because of conflicting schedules. "It was after Risky Business and right before The Color of Money. I couldn’t go to Chicago and that was kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back," she explained, as per HuffPost. The shooting for the Color of Money started in January of 1986 in Chicago.
It is possible that their relationship won't have lasted anyway, since the singer is unable to comprehend the Jack Reacher actor's choice of faith. “I don’t get what he does, that whole Scientology thing,” she said in an interview, as per People. "I can’t understand it so I just… don’t."
The end of their relationship was amicable but turns out that Cruise dislikes her talking about their shared past. "Everyone knew he [Tom] wasn’t happy," a source told Closer Weekly, adding, "It seemed like a bit of a touchy subject." Cher had also opened up about their relationship in her memoir, Honest.
References:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cher-on-ex-tom-cruise-its_n_85768
https://www.instyle.com/celebrity/tbt-cher-tom-cruise-relationship
https://people.com/music/cher-love-life-tom-cruise-richie-sambora-gregg-allman/
