It’s the unconfirmed Hollywood pairing no one can stop talking about. Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas have been spotted together a few too many times to believe they are just ‘collaborating on a future project’. Do prospective co-stars always attend celebrity birthday parties together? Or take their pets on each other’s private helicopters? We’re not so sure.

However, the two stars, who have been linked since February, are no longer just being trailed by romance rumours, there is now talk of an engagement too. When they were first spotted having dinner together in London at the start of the year, the rumours were swiftly shut down. Then they were spotted together again a month later travelling from Madrid to London in Cruise’s helicopter with de Armas’s two dogs, Elvis and Salsa. A month later still the duo attended David Beckham’s 50th together, and now the rumours won’t disappear.

Anyone sceptical about the pair, who have a very ‘Hollywood-coded’ 25-year age gap, is surely starting to pay attention. Not only might they have been secretly dating this whole time, but an insider close to Cruise tells Grazia he thinks this relationship could go the distance. ‘Some of Tom’s friends are cautioning him not to get too far ahead of himself, but that’s just not his style. It’s very similar to the way he romanced Katie Holmes,’ the source says, ‘he became quickly infatuated then spent every waking moment with her that he could until sweeping her off her feet with a romantic engagement.’

If we’re talking Holmes, it’s worth noting that his engagement ring for his former wife was estimated to cost between $1.5-3million. Of course, with an estimated net worth of $20million, de Armas could easily gift herself a ring of similar calibre, but nontheless it’s a surprise gift we certainly wouldn’t turn down!

‘That’s what he’s planning right now,’ they went on to add, ‘and nobody in Ana’s world believes she’ll say no. She’s been totally charmed by Tom; it really is a question of when they make this official versus if.’

Diamond ring or not, both stars have busy summers ahead which is likely to put their newfound connection to the test. Cruise is busy promoting the final instalment of his most notable franchise, Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which is out on 23 May, while de Armas is set to star in the next John Wick film, Ballerina, in June.

Cruise has also recently signed on to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s first English-language film since The Revenant, which is out in 2026. It’s set to follow ‘the most powerful man in the world’ as he ‘embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s saviour before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything’. Meanwhile, de Armas’s name is being thrown around as the potential lead for the Netflix adaptation of Taylor Jenkin Reid’s 2017 novel, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which is expected sometime after 2026.

How will such busy schedules allow time to plan an impromptu wedding? That’s where the Hollywood card comes in handy – with Cruise and de Armas’s combined wealth and star power they can probably afford to pull together a luxury, sun-soaked wedding in less than a week with the right team around them.

Even if there is truth to this whirlwind romance, a proposal, let alone a wedding, would no doubt come as a surprise to their inner circle. Not least because de Armas appeared to be dating someone else three months ago. In February, days after Cruise and de Armas were first pictured having dinner in London, the Eden actress was spotted holding hands with her then-rumoured boyfriend Manuel Anido Cuesta in Madrid. Prior to the Cruise rumours, she had been tied to the Cuban lawyer since November, and they had been pictured kissing and holding hands on several occasions.

While de Armas never publicly confirmed her relationship with Anido Cuesta – a pattern is forming – she never confirmed if it had ended either. After all, she vowed to keep her love life private after her highly publicised dalliance with Ben Affleck in 2020. One that culminated in Affleck being papped throwing a life size cardboard cutout of her in the bin after their breakup. In an interview with Elle in July 2022, the actress described the Affleck debacle as ‘horrible’ and ‘one of the reasons I left LA’. She explained that the invasive paparazzi culture taught her that ‘this is not the place for me’ and said ‘there’s no escape. There’s no way out’.

What, then, must she make of these unrelenting rumours about her relationship with Cruise? She might have left LA, but they have followed her all around Europe and only seem to be escalating with every joint appearance – not least ones at events rammed wall to wall with A-listers. ‘Tom was proud to have Ana on his arm at David Beckham’s 50th,’ Grazia’s insider continues. ‘He was introducing her to everyone as his special lady friend and they were, by all accounts, extremely affectionate with each other the whole night. He’s not screaming it from the rooftops just yet, but everyone knows he’s in it for the long haul.’ With that in mind, it’s hardly surprising that the rumours have snowballed.

Apparently, they have even discussed starting a family together. De Armas is 37 and it’s thought that a disagreement about wanting children is one of the main reasons why her romance with Affleck did not work out in 2020. Cruise might be 62 and have three children already – two with his second wife Nicole Kidman and one with his third wife Katie Holmes, who he is reportedly estranged from – but he is reportedly keen to have more if that’s what de Armas wants. According to our source, his two elder children, Isabella and Connor Cruise, have even met de Armas and given their seal of approval. ‘They’re all in agreement she’s a wonderful match for their dad,’ they explain.

As for the ‘future collaboration’ rumours that were being pedalled a few months ago, apparently there is still truth to them too. De Armas has agreed in principle to star in one of Cruise’s next projects, most likely a sequel to Days of Thunder, but that no longer seems to be their primary reason for spending time together. ‘They’ve been enjoying dinners at his place in central London, taking spins on his private jet and going on romantic getaways across Europe,’ reveals the source. ‘It’s the first time in years Tom has been this happy and confident in his dating life – the only concern for some is that it all seems a little too good to be true.’