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Tom Cruise’s first love reveals he was “a horny guy” as a young man

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Updated on July 6, 2023

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If you’ve watched Cocktail and have ever wondered what it would be like to bed Tom Cruise, then this intense interview is for you.

Diane Cox, who was with Cruise before he rose to fame, recently came out to shed light on a young Tom Mapother before he became famous.

Cox, who is now happily married and a mother of three, first grabbed Cruise’s attention in 1979 at their high school prom when she was only 17 years old. Despite having separate dates for the school dance, the two ended up at the same afterparty. He had a bottle of alcohol and a smile as he waited for her outside the restroom. Cruise was 18.

According to the Daily Mail, he had relocated to Cox’s hometown of Glen Ridge in New Jersey and charmed all the women there with a seductive Southern drawl and an abundance of charisma.

Cruise, who grew up with his three sisters Marion, Catherine, and LeAnn, was born in Syracuse, New York. They were raised by their father Thomas Cruise Mapother III, an electrical engineer, and their mother Mary Lee, a teacher and amateur actor. When Cruise was eleven years old, his parents divorced, and Lee initially took her kids to Louisville, Kentucky. Later, the family settled in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, where Cruise would eventually meet Cox, a student who was in the same grade as him.

When asked what Cruise was like before he became a worldwide movie star, she revealed Cruise worked as a server at Glen Ridge Country Club. ‘When he moved to Glen Ridge he was a Playboy. He was new and good-looking with a Southern drawl,’ Diane remembered.

‘He’s not a tall guy but he had this big butt and was super charming. People are drawn to him immediately. We had portraits taken in a shopping mall which his mum kept but even the photographer was drawn to him.’

When Cruise was trying to establish himself in Hollywood, Cox stood at his side. She described him as a young guy with great desire and goals, but she also indicated that she saw a weak and envious side to him. While Cruise was out in California looking for opportunities, the pair fought to keep their long-term romance going.

‘I wanted to see other people at one point and he got very jealous, very over-protective, and I wasn’t used to that. I even said to his sister I wanted to see other people, hoping she might help.’

‘The intensity of Tom’s whole demeanor really put me off,’ she remarked.

‘He was very vulnerable and I accidentally thanked him for flowers somebody else had sent me and he went crazy.

‘Of course I would get jealous, too, because I’d be trying to call him in California or he’d be in Vegas and I wasn’t able to get hold of him. That’s when I knew our lives were going different ways.

‘I was losing my boyfriend, and as soon as I started to lose Tom I realized how much I cared. We had so many fights, it was never aggressive just really intense about how in love we were, it’s strange.

‘I broke his heart. I had a thing with another guy and Tom’s friend found out and told him what I’d done. This was the time when he was filming Taps. I barely had any money at the point but I took a cab from New Jersey to see him at his hotel.

‘We spoke for a while and he was very direct, he told me, “I love you, but I’m not in love with you anymore.” It was so abrupt. We spent the night together and when I woke up he was already gone to film.’

Asked if the two of them were on the verge of getting married, she answered, ‘We didn’t talk about marriage but he told me I was the love of his life, the only person he wanted.’