Tom Cruise’s Dating History Includes So Many ’90s Relationships

Following a whirlwind romance with Ana de Armas, Tom Cruise is reportedly once again single—and honestly, TBD if he’s ready to mingle based on his grueling filming schedule at the moment. Like, those Mission Impossible and Top Gun sequels aren’t going to film themselves!

Of course, Tom has been in a ton of high-profile celeb relationships over the years, and it’s time for a quick trip down memory lane. Also, before we get started, quick spoiler to inform you that Tom was one of Cher’s top five best lovers.

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Star of your mother’s favorite show Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Gilbert dated Tom Cruise back in the olden days—like, before he was famous. It was so long before he was famous, in fact, that he was going by a different name. (That is correct: CRUISE IS NOT THIS MAN’S REAL NAME.)

“Actually, when I dated him, he was Tom Mapother still,” Melissa revealed on Watch What Happens Live, adding that she was “16 maybe or 17” when they met.

Melissa also noted they kept things PG-13, saying she didn’t have sex with him. And yes, she said Tom was “a good kisser.” (Please be advised: much of this list is people complimenting Tom’s ~skills~.)

According to Risky Business star Curtis Armstrong’s aptly titled tell-all Revenge of the Nerd, Tom Cruise and Rebecca had an “intense affair” on set of the film. But, like, neither Tom nor Rebecca appear to have confirmed that so...moving on!

Yep, Tom used to date E Street Band member (and Bruce Springsteen’s wife) Patti! We know this thanks to an old People profile from 1988, which notes they dated “briefly” in 1985.

That is correct: Tom and Cher fully dated. They first met at the site of all great celeb romances: Sean Penn and Madonna’s wedding. But then they found themselves once again at the same place at the same time when they attended a casual event at the White House.

While they clearly didn’t last, Cher did call Tom one of her top-five lovers during an episode of Watch What Happens Live.

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Meet Tom’s first wife, Mimi! Tom mused to Rolling Stone back in 1990 (ironically...right before their split) that she helped him become a better actor and he cared about her more than “anything in the world.” He also called Mimi his “best friend” and said, “I just really like being with her, you know? I love her.”

TBD why they split, but Mimi told People she had a hard time maintaining her individuality and “no matter what the article is, it’s ‘Tom Cruise’s wife...’”

Tom and Nicole met while they were filming Days of Thunder (a total classic) and he was...extremely into her! To put it very mildly! Tom said his first reaction to meeting Nicole was “pure lust,” and he described the early days of their relationship as “totally physical.” Honestly, no wonder their chemistry was so off the charts in Eyes Wide Shut. But clearly, it was more than just pure lust, because they got married and went on to adopt two children together.

In 2001, Tom and Nicole decided to divorce, and they released a joint statement citing “difficulties inherent in divergent careers.” Guess that was the early aughts version of everyone’s current fave “irreconcilable differences”?

We’ve reached the Cruise/Cruz era! Tom and Penélope met on the set of Vanilla Sky and dated for about three years, which seems like a shockingly long amount of time in retrospect? Anyway, they broke things off in March 2004, and a source told People the relationship simply “ran its course,” and their separate and distance-filled filming schedules had a lot to do with the breakup.

Yep. These two briefly dated in 2005 after Tom split with Penélope Cruz. According to Andrew Morton, the author of Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography, Tom followed the church of Scientology and had to provide leaders with a list of women he was interested in pursuing at the time. On that list? Sofía Vergara, who was an up-and-coming actor in the 2000s.

However, their relationship ended before it could even really begin. “It soon became clear that she was being auditioned for the biggest role of her life—Mrs. Tom Cruise,” Andrew wrote. “It was made clear that if she took the part, she would have to renounce her Catholic faith and convert to Scientology.”

Well, that’s a totally valid reason to call things off.

Tom and Katie (or TomKat as they were called) met in 2005 and were like...extremely into the press and attention. See: Tom’s behavior on Oprah’s poor couch, which did not ask for that jump. Anyway, these two got married and had a daughter named Suri. For a minute, they were living happily ever after in some giant cabin/mansion...until they weren’t. The couple divorced in 2012, and Katie got full custody of Suri.

These Mission Impossible costars weren’t formally confirmed to be dating, but they were a rumored item for a hot minute. According to The Sun, they split up in June of 2022.

In late 2023, Tom stepped out with the Russian socialite for a party in London, and soon after, a source for Us Weekly claimed that the two had been dating for “a while,” adding, “They’re very happy. And Tom’s extremely confident about it working out for the long term.”

However, just three months later, another Us Weekly insider revealed that the couple had already gone their separate ways. “They weren't gelling and realized they weren't romantically compatible,” the insider said. “There's no bad blood between them. They just had different ideas of what their relationship was going to be.”

Tom and Ana were first linked in February 2025, and after multiple appearances, a source told People in July that they’d “become incredibly close” and that Ana “really enjoys spending time with him.”

Sadly, the romance didn’t last, and by October, the two were rumored to be over. “They got together to see if they would be able to work together, and that developed into something more, which neither of them expected,” a source told Daily Mail, adding, “They ended up realizing that they should keep it professional because they weren’t able to figure it out as a couple and they wanted to save the future of their friendship and their movie.”

It’s still not clear whether Tom and Ana were actually an item but, tbh, anything can happen in the cinematic universe that is Tom Cruise’s dating life.