Forget the Oscars or the Met Gala – it’s safe to say that Victoria Beckham’s 50th birthday party was the hottest ticket in town last week, drawing in a certain stratum of VIPs only reserved for the most exclusive occasions. But among the sea of famous faces, which included all four of Vic’s fellow Spice Girls, plus Gordon Ramsay, Salma Hayek and Eva Longoria, there was one guest who unequivocally stole the show. Step forward Tom Cruise, who – according to eyewitnesses – left guests at the private members club Oswalds in Mayfair “dumbfounded” by his enthusiastic and energetic dance moves…culminating in him dropping into the splits (a feat for any of us, but particularly for an actor in his sixties). 

But while Tom’s exuberance took Posh’s exclusive guestlist by surprise – and delight – what was most surprising was the fact that the Mission: Impossible star had turned up at all. After all, Tom, 61, has had an infamously rocky relationship with the Beckhams over the past two decades, ever since they first made friends in the early noughties. In the beginning, they were as thick as thieves, regularly turning up to support one another at publicity-heavy events, and ostensibly cementing their best friend status when Tom threw the Beckhams a welcome party after they relocated to Los Angeles in 2007. 

However, as showbiz lore goes, the trio had an almighty fall-out sometime between 2012 and 2013, reportedly owed to a combination of factors, including Tom’s eagerness to sign the Beckhams up to Scientology, his divorce from ex-wife Katie Holmes, and the Beckhams’ supposed flakiness as they moved up in the world of Hollywood. And even though Tom has, for all intents and purposes, made London his permanent home over the past few years, as he works on Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part Two, insiders had recently reported no sign of a Beckham-Cruise reconciliation – despite the fact that David and Victoria live a stone’s throw away from their old best friend.

However, last week, Tom’s high-spirited arrival and rambunctious dance moves signalled the end of their long-running feud. And while we’re told neither party has been willing to extend an olive branch in the past, reaching her milestone birthday gave Victoria a fresh perspective. According to insiders, turning 50 made her reassess her friendships old and new, and decide it was time to let Tom back into the fold. 

“At the end of the day, they shared some good times and Victoria wanted Tom there, so she had David reach out,” says an insider close to the Beckhams, who well and truly proved their power and influence last week, judging by the A-list turn out. “Tom grabbed the olive branch with both hands and had a blast. He went all out to be the life of the party and he totally succeeded – he got the dancefloor going and was the talk of the night. Now that he’s making this new life in the UK, he’s very intent on building up his social circle, and he sees Posh and Becks as his passport into the cool club.”

It’s certainly an interesting turn of events to see Tom now relying on the Beckhams to elevate his social life. After all, when they first left the UK for LA in 2007 – after David signed with US football team LA Galaxy – Tom was their secret weapon. Not only did he join forces with Will Smith to host a massive welcome party for them, introducing them to Hollywood’s elite, but he also publicly supported them by regularly showing up for David’s football matches. At the time, the Beckhams may have been UK royalty – but they were still under the radar in the US, making Tom’s endorsement invaluable. Meanwhile, with Tom then still married to Katie Holmes, the two couples became a formidable foursome, regularly stepping out together on double dates, while fashionista Katie gave Victoria’s burgeoning fashion line her seal of approval. 

However, it’s no secret that Tom’s private life has taken a hit since then. While he’s long been ribbed for his associations with Scientology, his commitment took a murkier turn in 2012 when Katie divorced Tom – something he himself admitted in court documents was largely due to the fact that she didn’t want their daughter, Suri, to grow up under the auspices of the pseudo religion. As for the Beckhams, it’s no secret that Tom also made attempts to ingratiate them into his Church of Scientology. However, they weren’t interested and didn’t follow his lead, inevitably driving a wedge between them. At the same time, they were busy making other friends in the industry – including the likes of Eva Longoria and Marc Antony – and so were no longer so available to Tom. This apparently led to the actor feeling “snubbed” and “ghosted” by the power couple, while they felt a certain pressure from him to embrace Scientology, causing them to distance themselves further. 

Twelve years later, Tom is living a slightly more discreet, and some might say lonely, life in the UK. Last month, he split from his most recent girlfriend, Russian socialite Elsa Khayroya after four months together, despite friends saying they’d foreseen wedding bells again for the thrice-married actor. Meanwhile, while he’s still close to his adopted children from his second marriage to Nicole Kidman, Isabella, 31, and Connor, 29, he’s famously no longer in contact with Suri. Insiders say that their estrangement was mostly driven by Katie, and now Suri – who coincidentally turned 18 two days before Victoria’s party – reportedly wants no involvement with her father. As his estranged daughter hit her own milestone birthday last week, we’re told that Victoria was conscious of how difficult a time it must have been for Tom. So, the mum-of-four decided to reach out and bury the hatchet. And what better distraction could she provide for Tom than a right old knees up – where the tunes and £170 bottles of Don Julio 1942 tequila flowed freely. We’re told the party was just what Tom needed to forget his troubles and remember who his real friends are – and he duly made sure he was on his very best behaviour on the night. 

“It’s no secret that David and Victoria were a little nervous about having him there because of the whole Scientology thing, but he was a total dream guest,” we’re told. “He didn’t bring up Scientology nor make anything awkward. Tom is ready to let bygones be bygones and, if he gets his way, they’ll be doing a whole lot more socialising moving forwards.”