They are revered for their good looks and superb style of dress almost more than their talent as entertainers.
But what would the world's most famous faces look like if they didn't have the best make-up artists and stylists that money can buy?
Thanks to the handy work of one artist called Danny Evans, we now know exactly what a number of stars including Rihanna, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston would look like if they were average Joes.
Scrub down: Rihanna doesn't seem so glamorous without her outrageous style in this photo-shopped picture of the Bajan-born star The shock factor: The always trim Jennifer Aniston would likely be a bit larger if she didn't have personal chefs and trainers
In an age where quick fix diets, personal chefs and Botox keep the beautiful looking radiant, New York artist Danny has stripped them back to humdrum.
As a platinum selling pop star Rihanna is one of the most photographed women in the world, but without her outrageous dress sense she looks bland.
Full-time artist Danny takes celebs and 'presents them as duller versions of themselves - maybe a little frumpier, heftier or a little plainer.'
Material girl: If Madonna aged without her tough exercise regime she may be less toned and more saggy
Born to be bad: Heartthrob Johnny Depp still has his facial hair but he has also gained a few pounds too
The other half: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie do not look a million miles away from their normal appearance but their style is lacking
He told the MailOnline: 'Basically just stripping away their cool personas I always find it interesting to see what's left after the Hollywood has been scrubbed off.
'My intention wasn't necessarily to age them, but to strip them of their 'Hollywood' facade. That has more or less been my general goal with this series all along.'
The talented Danny has transformed the faces of some heavyweight names from the big screen and turned heartthrob Johnny Depp into a obese biker.
A sight for sore eyes: Miley Cyrus might decide to keep her current hairstyle rather than opting for a quiff
The cool: Jay-Z and Beyoncé have lost their edge as they have been transformed into a nerdy married couple
He also showed what Madonna could potentially look like if she aged naturally and dressed more appropriately for her age.
His fascination with celebrities began back in 2006 when socialite Paris Hilton was at her peak of popularity.
He said: 'I created the Planet Hiltron series in 2006. At that time, Paris Hilton's mug was all over the place. It was inescapable - magazines, television, the internet, everywhere.
Grey star: Gwyneth Paltrow has aged graciously and still looks pretty with a silver bob
Transformers: Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and John Travolta also got the special treatment from New York artists Danny Evans
The simple life: Nicole Richie is definitely lacking her Hollywood style in the altered image of her
'So, I started a Myspace page satirizing her overexposure. At first I only focused on Paris, putting her face on any random image: Paris as Einstein, Paris as Ginger Rogers, Paris as a canary.'
No one is safe from his smart work and two of the planets most glamorous couples have been made to look distinctively average.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie look scruffy and disheveled while Beyoncé and her rapper husband Jay-Z both got transformed into a geeky looking married couple.
To see more of Danny's work visit Planet Hiltron
Back to basics: Sarah Jessica Parker looks right at home on a ranch with her horse after trading in her Jimmy Choo's for cowboy boots
The beginning: A mixture of Paris Hilton and Albert Einstein was one of the first creations by Danny Evans
..Excited father-to-be Robbie Williams revealed a picture of his wife Ayda's baby bump on his website today.
The singer, 38, posted the picture of his pregnant wife posing in their LA home, writing, 'My two girls!'
Ayda, 32, lifts her T-shirt to reveal her growing belly in the snap, beaming with happiness.
She wears cropped tracksuit bottoms and a tight-fitting T-shirt, and despite her growing stomach is clearly remaining in great shape.
'My two girls!' Robbie Williams posted a picture of his pregnant wife Ayda on his website today The couple's first child is due in September.
Robbie announced the happy news back in March that he and his wife of almost two years are expecting a baby. Less than a week later, they revealed she is a girl.
It was recently claimed that the parents-to-be are contemplating naming their daughter Roberta, after her famous father, but also like Genevieve and Alice.
They have already shopped for the new addition at Petit Trésor, the exclusive baby store on Robertson Boulevard near their £9 million mansion in Beverly Hills.
Custom-designed sleigh cribs cost up to £2,400 and a Notte Fatata which stores nappies, will cost £9,291.
Baby joy: The couple, who married in August 2010, are expecting their first child in September
A source told the Star: 'He's always wanted to be a dad so he's going all out so his new daughter will be treated like a princess.
'He wants her top have the best of everything.'
And one of the singer's neighbours told the paper: 'It's safe to say he's completely gone gaga over his baby - and why not? He's a great guy and I'm sure he'll make a wonderful father.'
Williams announced that he is to become a father in typically comic fashion, writing on his website in March: 'Hey friendlies, I've been keeping a secret from you all. Me and Ayda are going to be a Mummy and Daddy this year!!!!!!!!
He added: 'We had sex! It works!
'We've seen scans and cried... looked at babies in commercials and teared up... the nursery is already planned.
'Basically I'm in love with a little person growing in mummy's belly... and can't wait to be a daddy. Crying now.
'Much love, much joy. Roberto, Mum and Little Bump. xxx'
Adele has announced today that she is pregnant with her first child with boyfriend Simon Konecki.
The singer, 24, revealed the news on her website to her fans, writing: 'I'm delighted to announce that Simon and I are expecting our first child together.
'I wanted you to hear the news direct from me, obviously we’re over the moon and very excited but please respect our privacy at this precious time. Yours always, Adele xx'
The Someone Like You singer has been dating the 36-year-old since last summer, and went public with the relationship in January.
Adele told People magazine recently that she 'really wants to be a mum', adding that it is her goal to have three sons by the time she is 30. 'I better start getting on with it!' she said Shortly after her sweep of the Grammys back in February, the singer also told US Vogue magazine that she was 'f***ing off' for four or five years' to concentrate on her relationship.
'If I am constantly working, my relationships fail,' she said at the time.' 'So at least now I can have enough time to write a happy record. And be in love and be happy.
'And then I don't know what I'll do. Get married. Have some kids. Plant a nice vegetable patch.'
It seems that her planned schedule has not exactly occurred in that order, as rumours were first sparked when Adele turned up to the Ivor Novello awards two months ago wearing a smock-stye dress that concealed her figure.
Announcement: The singer, 24, revealed the news on her website today
Settling down: Adele, pictured with Simon at the Grammy Awards, has been discussing having children recently, even saying she wants 'three sons by 30'
In February Adele purchased a £7 million mansion in Sussex for the couple to live in.
Adele, who underwent throat surgery to repair damage to her vocal chords in November, gushed about her man to Vogue, revealing: 'He's wonderful. And he's proud of me, but he don't care about what I do or what other people think. He looks after me. I don't think I would have gotten through the recovery for my surgery if it hadn't been for him.'
She also ticked off what makes her good in a relationship: 'I am attentive. I will do anything for my man. I am a good cook. I'm funny. Always want to have sex - Well, most girls don't!'
Whirlwind: The couple began dating last summer and their romance went public in January
Shortly after Simon and Adele's relationship became known, it was reported that the entrepreneur, and old Etonian, was still married.
Adele hit back at the claims, taking to her website to set the record straight. 'This is the first and last time I will comment on the details of my relationship with Simon,' she wrote in January.
'Contrary to reports and headlines in the press today, Simon is divorced and has been for 4 years.'
Something to hide? Adele sparked rumours when she turned up to the Ivor Novello Awards in May wearing a smock-style dress that concealed her figure
'Everyone in our lives separately and together wish us nothing but the best, and vice versa. These are the facts.'
Adele previous dated part-time DJ Ned Biggs, who is believed to have been the source of some of her most heartbreaking hits.
Their relationship is thought to have lasted several months, several years ago.
It was a relationship that raised eyebrows from the very start.
She was the beautiful ingenue from wholesome teen drama Dawson's Creek and he was the world's biggest, and it was starting to seem to some... oddest, movie star.
At 28, Katie Holmes could've passed for 18, and had an air of wholesome normality that had long since disappeared from Cruise's weird world as he hurtled towards his mid-Forties.
APRIL 2005 Where it all began: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes looked like giddy teenagers when they were first picture together in Italy. He wooed her by decorating their hotel room in Rome with rose petals When they were first pictured together as a couple, in Italy where they would later marry, the incredulity amongst press and fans alike was tangible.
Tom had dated the more age appropriate and sophisticated Penelope Cruz and never asked her to marry him, and now he was squiring this girl who had been on the arm of American Pie's Chris Klein... it all seemed so unlikely.
But the couple went on to become TomKat, one of the most talked about couples of the century...if perhaps for all the wrong reasons.
MAY 23, 2005 Crazy in love: Tom jumped on Oprah Winfrey's sofa, declaring: 'I can't be cool. I can't be laidback. It's..something that has happened and I feel I want to celebrate it and I wanna celebrate her. She's a very special woman.'
JUNE 17, 2005 Yes! Yes! Yes! Katie flashes her engagement ring in Paris after Tom proposed over a candlelit dinner at Le Jules Verne restaurant at the Eiffel Tower. 'Today is a magnificent day for me, I'm engaged to a magnificent woman,' he said
Because if the union was supposed to cease gossip about Cruise and his personal life, in particular rumours of his homosexuality – always denied – it failed utterly.
The couple’s wedding was choreographed like a massive movie premiere, with more bodyguards than guests and the ultimate goal seemingly the fantastically romantic images which were released to the media of the A list star and his pretty bride.
This came in the wake of the president of Paramount Sumner Redstone complaining that women found the actor ‘creepy.’
When the romance began – Katie had met Tom to discuss the possibility of appearing in Mission Impossible III – she was immediately sent on an intensive and lengthy study course about Scientology, the religion founded by sci-fi author L Ron Hubbard in 1954, which holds that humans are descended from an exiled race of aliens called Thetans.
JUNE 23, 2005 Swept off her feet: The couple put on very public display of affection at the War Of The Worlds premiere in New York
She was ‘audited’ by Scientology counsellors, and unlike Cruz and Tom's first wife Nicole Kidman before her, totally embraced the movement.
Cruise proposed on June 17, 2005 on the top of the Eiffel Tower following a famously embarrassing declaration of his love on Oprah Winfrey’s show, where he jumped up on the couch yelling ‘I’m in love, I’m in love, I can’t be cool, I can’t be laid back.’
Despite earlier reports that there would be a Roman Catholic ceremony of some sort – Katie was born a Catholic – it was a Scientology wedding.
JUNE 27, 2005 The need for speed: The couple's romance quickly went into overdrive, and the actor took her along to the LA premiere of the sci-fi film
What’s more it was conducted by David Miscavige, Tom Cruise’s best friend who is the head of the movement.
From the outset Miss Holmes struggled to ever settle in their £20million Los Angeles mansion.
Cass Mapother is a key figure here, Tom’s sister – and she and her three sons share the house with Tom and his two adopted children Conor and Isabella.
Miss Holmes never felt that the massive mansion, stuffed with bodyguards, was her home.
Everyone who came through the doors was a Scientologist.
His devotion to the religion meant that he was widely regarded as ‘weird’.
OCTOBER 2005 Baby on board! Katie revealed her bump in all its glory at Tom's daughter Isabella's soccer game in Brentwood after announcing her pregnancy
Andrew Morton's unauthorised biography repeated claims that Suri was thought by some to have been conceived using the frozen sperm of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
This suggestion infuriated Cruise, friends described it as ‘sick, offensive and very upsetting’.
But he'll be perhaps more damaged still by what has so demonstrably happened to Katie Holmes.
Before they met she was a natural beauty, and her physical decline in the five and a half years that followed is almost shockingly obvious.
OCTOBER 2006 It's a girl: The couple's daughter Suri was born in April 2006 but they kept her out of the spotlight, prompting some to question if the child even existed. She finally made her debut five months later on the cover of Vanity Fair
How will Tom – the sofa jumper who wants so desperately to be loved – ever get over this?
Tom gave no hint of trouble in a gushing interview about his wife just last month.
The star said he loved her 'creativity' and claiming their relationship was 'very special'.
He told People magazine: 'She is an extraordinary person, and if you spent five minutes with her, you'd see it. Everything she does, she does with this beautiful creativity. She has a voice and warmth as an artist, as a mother. She's funny and charming, and when she walks into the room, I just feel better.
NOVEMBER 18, 2006 I do! The couple exchanged vows at Odescalchi Castle in Lake Bracciano, Italy, in a ceremony performed by a Scientology minister. The bride wore Armani
'I'm a romantic. I like doing things like creating romantic dinners, and she enjoys that. I don't know what to say - I'm just happy, and I have been since the moment I met her. What we have is very special.'
But the pair have been living increasingly separate lives in recent months, with Tom spending time away from his family to focus on work. He has been promoting his latest film, Rock of Ages, and also filming Oblivion.
Sources have suggested that Tom's absence was started to take a toll on his family - and his young daughter's behaviour.
JULY 22, 2007 Famous friends: Tom and Katie joined Jada and Will Smith in welcoming Victoria and David Beckham to LA with a private party at the Museum of Contemporary Art
NOVEMBER 27, 2008 So close: Katie quickly became an important figure in the lives of Tom's adopted children Isabella and Connor from his marriage to Nicole Kidman. 'They call me Mom,' she has said
'Suri misses her dad,' an insider told Star magazine recently, citing the girl's recent public outbursts as evidence.
'She’s a different child when Tom’s around,' explained the friend. 'Suri was having a complete meltdown on a recent photo shoot for Katie until Tom stopped by unexpectedly. He picked her up and she was suddenly fine.'
FEBRUARY 14, 2009 Happiest family on earth: Tom and Katie visit Disneyland with their daughter Suri and his son Conor
JUNE 2010 Higher power: Katie Holmes was spotted leaving Scientology Center. When the pair first started dating, she was 'really excited' about embracing the actor's controversial religion. Sources now say it played a part in their split
But Tom, who was planning to celebrate his 50th birthday on July 3 in Iceland, insists his brood is accustomed to having him away, saying: 'My family and I have an understanding on that matter.'
The couple's romance has always been high-profile but it's become increasingly obvious that as the Cruise wagon rolled on, Katie lost herself along the way.
Once tipped to be box office name herself, she's enjoyed her biggest success on Broadway away from Hollywood and the Cruise machine.
JULY 16, 2011 Making waves: Katie and Suri visited Tom Cruise in Miami, Florida, while he was filming Rock of Ages
In his most famous - and cringe-worthy - declaration of love, he jumped on Oprah Winfrey's couch in sheer delight.
He told Oprah at the time: 'I can't be cool... I can't be laidback. It's something that has happened and I feel I want to celebrate it and I wanna celebrate her. She's a very special woman.'
He also revealed he wooed her by setting up a series of romantic surprises including a motorcycle ride on a beach and decorating their hotel room in Rome, Italy with rose petals.
APRIL 5, 2012 No sign of trouble: The couple smiled and held hands in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in one of the last pictures of them together. They were seen holding hands in Iceland where Tom is filming just two weeks ago
Katie soon converted to Scientology - the controversial religion which Tom subscribes to.
The couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Suri, in April 2006, They decided to keep her out of the spotlight for five months following her birth, prompting some to question if the child even existed.
Suri finally made her debut in the October 2006 issue of Vanity Fair and went on to become the biggest-selling edition in the magazine’s history.
•Katie Holmes signed a prenuptial agreement which entitles her to $3million for every year of marriage •Entitled to $35million California mansion •Couple's estate is worth upwards of $275million
By Rachel Quigley
When they married to great fanfare and with much opulence in an Italian castle in November 2006, talk not only centered on bride Katie Holmes' wedding dress but also on her prenuptial agreement with the groom.
The details? For each year the couple stay married, the Dawson's Creek actress collects $3million - to a maximum of $33 million after 11 years - as well as their palatial home in California.
If their marriage had lasted more than 11 years, Holmes would have received half of Cruises’s reportedly $250 million fortune.
After filing for divorce less than six years later, according to the agreement, Katie should only be entitled to $15 million as well as the couple's $35 million Beverly Hills Mansion.
Split: After five years of marriage, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are set to engage in a messy divorce with speculation as to how much of the Cruise estate Katie is entitled to Autos: The $1.5million Veyron - which the couple arrived to the Mission Impossible premiere in - features a 16 cylinder engine, The engine is fed by four turbochargers and displaces 7,993 cubic centimeters
But with an estate worth upwards of $275 million, Katie is expected to seek much more and there is already intense speculation as to how much she will collect when the papers are signed.
Sources reveal the 33-year-old is asking for a 'suitable amount' of child support, as well as a division of property, though no mention was made of the prenuptial agreement in divorce papers.
After Katie's lawyer announced her client was filing for divorce, representatives for Tom, 49, released a statement saying he was 'very sad' and 'did not see this coming'.
Since they did not stay married for 11 years, the prenuptial agreement explicitly states that California community property laws won't apply to the divorce - which normally sees a couple's assets split 50/50.
When the divorce is eventually finalized, each will keep their respective earnings from the projects they've worked on since November 2006. That's in addition to the $3 million per year Cruise will give to Holmes.
There were also rumors that a certain degree of 'nastiness' was involved, evidenced by Katie's intent to seek sole custody of Suri.
If she succeeds in this, the child support payments Tom will have to pay for his daughter could prove sizeable.
New York divorce attorney Vikki Ziegler told Hollywood Life that because of the prenup, Katie stands to lose millions and will need to use their six-year-old daughter as a pawn to get more money.
'Most of the estate is Tom's. She’ll have to go for a lot of child support,' she said. 'She’ll have to show that Suri has nannies, cars, activities, clothes, hair appointments. That a hefty amount each month is needed to maintain Suri’s lifestyle.'
Home number one: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes paid about $35 million for this Beverly Hills mansion sprawled over 10,286 square feet which Katie is said to be entitled to in the prenuptial agreement
Their country house in Sussex, England: The home features six bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, underground garage, a sports pavilion, a game room, greenhouse, high tech security system and a staff cottage is worth $4.75million
Part-time homes: A $7million villa in Italy's Lake Como, left, and a luxury Manhattan apartment add to the couple's multimillion dollar estate
Shortly after they married in 2006, the couple paid $30million for a lavish nine-bedroom home on a Telluride, Colorado, estate which they were later rumored to have added a $10 million bunker to.
They also own a lavish apartment in New York's Manhattan, where Katie is currently said to be holed up with the couple's daughter Suri, while Tom films his new movie Oblivion in Iceland.
A $5 million home in Sussex, England, which features six bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, underground garage, sports pavilion, high tech security system and staff cottage as well as villa in Italy's Lake Como bought from friend George Clooney for almost $7 million adds to the couple's multimillion dollar estate.
The Mission Impossible actor likes to indulge in a number of expensive hobbies and has over the years collected three aircrafts, several cars and a 60-foot yacht.
After the couple married, the actor bought Katie a luxurious wedding gift in the form of a Gulfstream IV-SP, about which she famously said: 'It's like a bus, only quicker.'
Boats: The couple and daughter Suri took many expensive vacations during their five-year marriage including time spent on their own 'Little Castle' 60ft power yacht
Splash the cash: Daughter Suri is believed to own a $3million designer wardrobe
Motorcycle: Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes arrive on a motorbike at a special fan screening of War of the Worlds at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood June 27, 2005
Cruise also owns a luxurious airplane Aviat – Pitts S-2B and a North American Aviation P-51 Mustang. The jet has painted on one of it's side 'Kiss Me, Kate'.
As well as aircrafts, Tom has a number of sports cars in his possession - a Porsce 911 and a 16-cylinder V8.
The couple lived in Beverly Hills so California law would have been applied to the separation of assets.
California is a community property state, so normally a couple's assets must be split evenly in divorce. Any money earned would be split 50/50 as would any debt either Tom or Katie incurred during their marriage.
However the prenuptial agreement changes all that.
•Mission Impossible star 'deeply saddened' by wife's decision to end marriage •Actor had 'not seen' the divorce coming •Couple led separate lives in recent months, with Katie refusing to join him on Rock of Ages promotional tour •Tom's lewd W magazine cover left her 'speechless' with disgust •Pair, who are worth around $275 million, are understood to have a pre-nup
By Sara Nathan and Alison Boshoff
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have sensationally revealed they are divorcing after five years of marriage.
The Hollywood superstar, 49, said he was ‘deeply saddened’ that his younger wife, 33, had filed for a separation.
He revealed the former Dawson's Creek actress had initiated the split, bringing a dramatic end to one of Hollywood's most high-profile romances.
In a surprise move, Miss Holmes is understood to have filed for sole custody of the couple's daughter Suri, six.
Split: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are divorcing after five years together 'This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family,' Holmes's lawyer Jonathan Wolfe said in a statement to People magazine.
'Katie's primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter's best interest.'
A spokesperson for Cruise, who is currently in Iceland filming his new sci-fi movie Oblivion, said: 'Kate has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children.'
The actress filed documents in New York this week citing 'irreconcilable differences'.
Separate lives: Katie and her daughter Suri were spotted in New York yesterday
Focused on work: Tom was pictured on filming his new movie Oblivion in Iceland on Wednesday
She has asked for legal custody, primary residential custody and a 'suitable amount' of child support from her husband, TMZ reports.
Miss Holmes is also asking for a division of property in the divorce documents, although there is a significant pre-nuptial agreement that is based on California law.
The couple are worth around $275 million - much of that owing to Tom's box office success.
The terms of the pre-nup are understood to be clear - for each year the couple stay married, the Dawson's Creek actress collects $3million - to a maximum of $33 million after 11 years - as well as their palatial home in California.
If their marriage had lasted more than 11 years, Holmes would have received half of Cruises’s reportedly $250 million fortune.
After filing for divorce less than six years later, according to the agreement, Katie should only be entitled to $15 million as well as the couple's $35 million Beverly Hills Mansion
But with an estate worth upwards of $275 million, Katie is expected to seek much more and there is already intense speculation as to how much she will collect when the papers are signed.
Cruise is believed to have 'not seen' the divorce coming.
But sources insist that she did tell her husband of five-and-a-half years that she was filing for divorce – but she didn’t give him a chance to control the spread of the news, as he did with Nicole Kidman.
The fact that she issued a solo statement speaks of some heat around the final extinguishing of the marriage.
The pair have not been seen together in public for almost three months - they were last pictured on April 5 while in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Miss Holmes failed to turn up to at any of the worldwide premieres of her husband’s latest film Rock of Ages, despite Cruise’s constant protestations of love for his wife.
The final arguments seem to have been over where Cruise was going to spend his 50th birthday on Tuesday. He told her that he was planning to be on the set of his latest film Oblivion, in Iceland, and that seems to have been the last straw.
The statuesque brunette had frequently been pictured looking drawn and exhausted during her marriage. One Hollywood source said she had been ‘utterly miserable with Tom for months, if not years’.
Apart: Katie, seen here with Suri on June 26, did not join Tom, pictured right on June 8, as he promoted Rock of Ages
Indeed, the row over his birthday followed another bust-up over what Miss Holmes felt were embarrassingly bad taste pictures of him on the cover of W magazine last month.
He was dressed – or rather undressed – as the rock star Stacee Jaxx, the character he plays in Rock of Ages. Two half-dressed blondes were wrapped around him, one licking his face.
Miss Holmes, a nice girl from Ohio who is nevertheless very aware of why Cruise feels the need to play the macho card in public, was apparently ‘speechless’ with disgust and felt the pictures laid both of them open to ridicule.
Carrying the load: Katie has been left looking after Suri on her own this month - pictured here on June 14, June 19 and June 22
The marriage has been in such poor shape that for the past year they have led almost entirely separate lives.
Miss Holmes has chosen to stay with Suri in Cruise’s New York apartment while he has travelled the world working.
The little girl has been her constant and only companion. They are often out together until late, and Miss Holmes – who gave up all the threads of her old life to become Mrs Tom Cruise – seems to have no other friends at all.
A shopping and sundries budget reputed to run at $125,000-a- month (£80,000) could only keep her amused for so long.
One Hollywood source said today: ‘It was an open secret that she was utterly miserable with Tom, and had been for months if not years. They really couldn’t drag out the pretence any longer.’
Another source added: ‘Katie spent her time avoiding him, and they rowed terribly.’ When Cruise was filming Rock of Ages in Miami, Miss Holmes came along with Suri and they made a family holiday of it. But since then they have spent no more than a handful of nights under the same roof.
Miss Holmes, who used to have a poster of Cruise on her bedroom wall, found that being married to an intense, workaholic, and deeply religious megastar was no picnic.
In pictures of her going about her daily business she looked completely worn out. Her brown hair was prematurely grey, she never wore make up. One shapeless cardigan was succeeded by another baggy jumper.
No sign of trouble: The couple smiled and held hands in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in one of the last pictures of them together
Those close to her said that she felt he wasn’t putting any effort into her or the marriage.
Her once promising film career – she had been the love interest in Batman Begins – had been stifled. Roles evaporated. She ended up trying to find work as a fashion designer, endorsing the line Holmes and Yang.
The bigger picture is that this is the end of the third of Cruise’s marriages and a spectacular failure of his strategy to relaunch himself as a ‘regular guy’.
And if the union was supposed to cease gossip about Cruise and his personal life, in particular rumours of his homosexuality – always denied – it failed utterly.
The couple’s 2006 Italian wedding was choreographed like a massive movie premiere, with more bodyguards than guests and the ultimate goal seemingly the fantastically romantic images which were released to the media of the A list star and his pretty bride.
This came in the wake of the president of Paramount Sumner Redstone complaining that women found the actor ‘creepy.’
Dream wedding: The pair married in an Italian castle in 2006
When the romance began – Katie had met Tom to discuss the possibility of appearing in Mission Impossible III – she was immediately sent on an intensive and lengthy study course about Scientology, the religion founded by sci-fi author L Ron Hubbard in 1954, which holds that humans are descended from an exiled race of aliens called Thetans.
She was ‘audited’ by Scientology counsellors, and unlike Penelope Cruz and Nicole Kidman before her, has totally embraced the movement.
Cruise proposed on June 17, 2005 on the top of the Eiffel Tower following a famously embarrassing declaration of his love on Oprah Winfrey’s show, where he jumped up on the couch yelling ‘I’m in love, I’m in love, I can’t be cool, I can’t be laid back.’
Despite earlier reports that there would be a Roman Catholic ceremony of some sort – Katie was born a Catholic – it was a Scientology wedding. What’s more it was conducted by David Miscavige, Tom Cruise’s best friend who is the head of the movement.
Crazy in love: Tom, giddy over his budding relationship with Katie, famously jumped on Oprah Winfrey's couch in 2005
From the outset Miss Holmes struggled to ever settle in their Los Angeles mansion. Cass Mapother is a key figure here, Tom’s sister – and she and her three sons share the house with Tom and his two adopted children Connor, 17, and Isabella, 19. But Miss Holmes never felt that the massive mansion, stuffed with bodyguards, was her home. Everyone who came through the doors was a Scientologist.
His devotion to the religion meant that he was widely regarded as ‘weird’. Andrew Morton unauthorised biography repeated claims that Suri was thought by some to have been conceived using the frozen sperm of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. This suggestion infuriated Cruise, friends describing it as ‘sick, offensive and very upsetting’.
You wonder, though, if he will be all the more damaged still by what has happened to Katie Holmes.
Before they met she was a natural beauty, and her physical decline in the five and a half years that followed is almost shockingly obvious.
How will Tom – the sofa jumper who wants so desperately to be loved – ever get over this?
MIMI, NICOLE AND PENELOPE... THREE MORE WHO DIDN'T LAST
The shock factor: The always trim Jennifer Aniston would likely be a bit larger if she didn't have personal chefs and trainers
The other half: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie do not look a million miles away from their normal appearance but their style is lacking
The simple life: Nicole Richie is definitely lacking her Hollywood style in the altered image of her
The shock factor: The always trim Jennifer Aniston would likely be a bit larger if she didn't have personal chefs and trainers
The other half: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie do not look a million miles away from their normal appearance but their style is lacking
The simple life: Nicole Richie is definitely lacking her Hollywood style in the altered image of her
