Amid growing pressure to have a second child, Katie Holmes ditches her wedding ring, her diet and her inhibitions with friends her own age. Matthew Denby reports on how she’s finally broken free.
There is suddenly something very different about Katie Holmes, and it isn’t just that her wedding ring has been nowhere in sight of late. With her husband Tom Cruise and his security guards and Scientology minders no longer a constant presence, she’s smiling again – and friends say the old Katie is back.
In the two weeks since she was seen arriving, grim-faced, at an LA medical centre amid talk Tom, 47, has been asking her to have a baby, Katie’s life appears to have changed beyond all recognition.
The 31-year-old has shed her husband’s restrictive world, driving herself around LA without any staff three times in the past week, and hitting the Sundance Film Festival on her own, partying with friends her own age, and drinking and eating to her heart’s content.
With Tom tied up with his film Knight And Day, Katie was relishing time out to be herself as she hit Park City, Utah, for the festival.
“She was relieved Tom couldn’t come. She felt liberated,” a friend of the actress told US magazine Star. “That’s why she partied so hard. Tom keeps her on such a short leash she can feel suffocated. But without him there to restrain her, she was a whole different person. There was definitely a vibe of ‘the leash is off, let’s party’.”
But it wasn’t just Katie’s relaxed mood that drew attention – according to reports, she was not wearing her wedding ring during the visit, and the tipsy actress was seen flirting with her The Romantics co-star Adam Brody, 30.
“Katie and Adam really bonded on set, and were excited to hang out,” says one report. “Katie looked like she was flirting with him, standing really close, touching his arm a lot.”
While Tom’s Scientology religion frowns on heavy drinking, a giggly Katie was seen enjoying red wine and champagne as she hit the party circuit, putting an end to any speculation that she’s pregnant.
In scenes that would give security-minded Tom a heart attack, Katie went out on the town alone and mingled freely with fans.
“She shocked everyone by calling off the heavy protection and making a low-key exit after a press call for her movie,” a festival source told Life & Style magazine. “She even posed for pictures and chatted with fans.”
Sporting a healthy new glow to go with her smile, once super-skinny Katie seems to have left behind the strict diet and exercise regimen that’s marked her marriage to Tom.
One staffer at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Park City says, “Katie came in by herself, sat down at the bar and ordered a nice bottle of red wine. She ordered calamari and raved about the batter. Then she ordered steak and mashed potatoes, saying she wanted a really substantial meal to fend off the cold.”
Katie returned home a changed woman.
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