Heather Locklear Set The Record Straight About Her Alleged Tom Cruise Romance

In the early '80s, Heather Locklear and Tom Cruise were just getting started in Hollywood. Locklear was busy starring in "Dynasty," a popular prime-time soap opera, and Tom Cruise was making a name for himself in movies like "Risky Business" and "The Outsiders." It was during this time, likely around 1982, that the young stars went to a club. And while rumors immediately began swirling that the two were in a romantic relationship, that doesn't seem to be the case. 

"It wasn't really a date," Locklear clarified in a 2013 interview with Chelsea Handler, per Us Weekly. "We had auditioned for something together and he didn't have any friends... I mean, not that he doesn't have friends. Out here he doesn't have friends. We went out and we went dancing," she remembered.

While out with Locklear, Tom Cruise made an unexpected decision on the dance floor. According to the soap star, he did the famous "Risky Business" routine, splits and all. She remembers wondering whether she should dance around him before finally deciding to sit down. Suffice it to say, this marked the end of their alleged relationship before it ever really began. In 1986, Cruise joined The Church of Scientology, a decision that notoriously affected his future relationships with A-listers like Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes. 

Just a few years before she danced with Tom Cruise in a Hollywood club, Heather Locklear was just a normal teenager. In 2018, she reconnected with her high school boyfriend, Chris Heisser, and he became her fiancé in the early days of the pandemic. "I'm like, 'You're my man for the rest of my life, whether we get married or not,'" she told People, adding, "His daughter goes, 'When are you guys getting married?' And I'm like, 'Can we just get through the movie? Can we just get through the pandemic? Can we just get through [all of that]?'" For the high school sweathearts, a formal wedding isn't important — they're just glad to be together, especially after all the ups and downs they've experienced together.

Locklear has been open about her history with anxiety, depression, and addiction — in 2018, she was arrested and ordered by the court to spend 30 days in a treatment facility. In April 2020, she publicly celebrated one year sober on Instagram.

As well as her short-lived fling with Tom Cruise, the "Melrose Place" star was famously married to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee prior to his relationship with Pamela Anderson. The pair split in 1993, after which she tied the knot with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora — together, they share a daughter. 

Heather Locklear was the first in a series of high-profile Tom Cruise flings. In the mid-80s, shortly before joining The Church of Scientology with his first wife, Mimi Rogers, Cruise dated the one and only Cher. According to the singer, the future Academy Award nominee wasn't yet used to the movie star treatment — in fact, he still thought of himself as a high school nobody. In 1990, he began seeing his second wife, Nicole Kidman, and in 2005, he tied the knot with Katie Holmes. Between his second and third marriages, the actor dated the likes of Penélope Cruise, Sofia Vergara, and Nazanin Boniadi. All have been hesitant to share details of their relationships with Cruise.

As the "Top Gun" star once said in a conversation with Rolling Stone, "Relationships are hard. You have to know when you're going to be in a different place from someone else, you have to have the strength to separate." Most importantly, if his partner can't appreciate his "Risky Business" dance moves (and Scientology), it definitely won't work out long-term.