NEW COUPLE ALERT.

We report this in a similar to fashion to how you might report on a potential nuclear war, because as nice as Tom Cruise is (or was when we met him), nobody's ever going to be all 'aww, isn't that sweet' when there's rumours creeping around online linking him to his next victim girlfriend/potential Scientology slave wife.

This is a surprising one to us. Mostly because we're pretty sure Laura Prepon of OITB and That 70s Show is about twice his height. (Then again Nicole Kidman was pretty lurchy too.) But also because we figured she'd be too smart and self aware to be lured in and blinded by Mr Cruise's questionable lifestyle and penchant for wife shopping. But then we learned that she too is a life-long, devout follower of the Church of Scientology and suddenly it all makes sense.

Reports claim that Tom is both 'smitten' and 'on cloud 9' since their alleged date. So jumping on Oprah's couch take two is surely just a matter of time. As are the 'FREE KATIE' t-shirts which will probably be printed over with his new obsession's name.

Sources dish the deets about their date to Grazia: "It may seem like an odd choice but it's a top restaurant called The Renaissance serving French/Californian cuisine... He had her picked up in a vintage car, knowing it was one of her favourite, and had pre-ordered a vintage bottle of 1979 merlot, which was on the table when she arrived. They spent three hours laughing and joking. It's clear Tom is smitten and after the date he was on cloud nine. They had their second date at the restaurant too, meeting for Sunday brunch, and then she accompanied him a few days later to a dinner party at John's [Travolta] home."

The source went on to explain that Tom is SO over Katie. Not that she gives a shit. We imagine she rises daily from her slumber breathing a massive sigh of relief that she's no longer Tom's prisoner wife.

So what do you think, Tom and Laura, said to be dating, is it true love or a union of freaky convenience?