Tragic Details About Nicole Kidman & Tom Cruise's Daughter, Bella

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman had a whirlwind romance after meeting on the set of 1990's "Days of Thunder." That same year, they said, "I do," and soon enough, they started growing their family. The actors adopted daughter Isabella in 1992, followed by son Connor in 1995.

Interestingly, while Cruise's devotion to Scientology would eventually cost him his marriage in 2002, the church is actually to thank for bringing Bella into the couple's life. Isabella Jane (who now goes by Bella Kidman Cruise) was born in Miami, Florida, on December 22 to a fellow Scientologist. The married mom of two reportedly contacted the church because she couldn't afford to support a third child, and so Cruise and Kidman received the ultimate Christmas gift. The couple met their daughter just hours after her birth, and Kidman told Desert Island Discs, "I look into those eyes and that crazy love happens." (via MailOnline)

Unfortunately, Bella's life would undergo several major shakeups and changes in the years ahead. While Isabella lives a pretty normal life today, she's faced her share of hardships, starting with her parents' contentious split when she was just 8 years old. This is the tragic truth of Bella Kidman Cruise.

After a decade of marriage, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise called it quits in February 2001. Bella was just 8 years old at the time, and while a divorce would be difficult on any child, the media's unrelenting attention surely made the situation worse. Speaking with ABC News that August, Kidman assured that she and Cruise were focused on doing what was best for Bella and 6-year-old Connor. "We will be the parents of two children for the rest of our lives, and that is the priority," she assured.

Unfortunately, the split wasn't exactly amicable. For one, Cruise quickly moved on to dating "Vanilla Sky" co-star Penelope Cruz. What's more, in court papers seen by MailOnline, Kidman accused Cruise of breaking up their marriage without explanation. While we may never know the real reason they broke up, Kidman claimed Cruise refused counseling and revealed how, less than two months before the breakup, she had suffered a miscarriage.

In addition to her parents' split being contentious, a young Bella also had to deal with endless travel as the exes tried to share custody. Initially, Kidman moved to New York while Cruise remained in Los Angeles. What's more, as if having to regularly fly across the country wasn't enough, Cruise also repeatedly took Bella and her brother to Scientology sessions held in Clearwater, Florida.

Initially following her parents' divorce, Bella Kidman Cruise split her time between two households. However, that began to change in 2004. After missing a large chunk of time with her kids because she was shooting a film in Romania, Nicole Kidman returned stateside to discover that both Bella and Connor had been sent away to a Scientology summer camp. By 2005, her custody agreement with Tom Cruise had disintegrated entirely, and Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's children were living with him full-time.

A 13-year-old Bella's life was changing yet again, as she was being homeschooled by Cruise's sister, Cass, and a new woman entered her life: Katie Holmes. Along the way, she and Kidman began drifting apart, and according to numerous sources, Cruise used Scientology to drive a permanent wedge between Bella and her mother. Insiders told Vanity Fair that the church labeled Kidman a "Suppressive Person" and repeatedly instructed Bella to ignore her mother. John Brousseau, the former brother-in-law of church leader David Miscavige, even alleged that Bella and Connor once said, "Our mom's an S.P. — we hate going and seeing her."

For her part, Bella told New Idea magazine in 2012 (via MailOnline) that she and Kidman do speak and occasionally see each other. "I love mom," she assured. Interestingly, though, when Bella got married in 2015, Kidman was a no-show at her daughter's wedding. Not only that, but she didn't even know it was happening. Rather, she was left to discover news of the nuptials by seeing it online.

When Tom Cruise married Katie Holmes in 2006, it seemed that 14-year-old Bella had found a new mother figure she really loved. Indeed, speaking with Parade in 2007, Holmes praised Bella and her brother, Connor, and gushed (via People), "They call me 'Mom.'" It seems that bond only strengthened over time, and, in 2011, Holmes gave her 18-year-old stepdaughter an internship at her clothing company, Holmes & Yang. "Kate's designing and [Bella] is just working her way up," proud papa Tom Cruise told People (via Marie Claire UK). "She's an artist, Bella, so it's really great that she gets to work with it."

Unfortunately, all that changed just a year later when Bella was once again implicated in her dad's love life. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' messy divorce in 2012 meant the end of the road for Bella's tight bond with her stepmom. As The Hollywood Reporter learned, Holmes actually fired Bella from Holmes & Yang two months before she filed for divorce from Cruise. "This was a carefully planned ambush," a source told the outlet. "Katie didn't want Bella working for her anymore because she was Tom's kid."

You rarely see Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's daughter, and according to several sources, that's not just because she's shy. Rather, Bella Kidman Cruise might be avoiding the spotlight because she simply hasn't found her place in it.

In 2014, a 21-year-old Bella had already tried several career paths after being fired from her gig at Holmes & Yang. First, she pursued art at college for two years before doing a 30-week course at the Vidal Sassoon Academy in England. She then briefly worked as a hairdresser in London before switching gears again. In 2015, Bella attended London's Delamar Academy of Make-up and Hair and also took a 22-week Advanced Complete Make-Up Artist class. However, it's unclear if she pursued makeup as a full-time job at any point.

Jump to 2018, Bella returned to art and fashion, launching a tee-shirt line featuring her drawings, but she only released a single capsule collection. Speaking with MailOnline in 2015, one insider claimed that Tom Cruise's eldest daughter was struggling to make her mark. "Bella is lost," they told the mag. "She's not pretty enough to be an actress and not smart enough to go to college and get a real job."

Scientology has often been blamed for Bella Kidman Cruise's strained relationship with her mother. In 2012, a former high-level Scientologist named Marty Rathbun even told The Hollywood Reporter that he saw Tom Cruise indoctrinating Bella and Connor against Nicole Kidman on a daily basis. "Tommy told them over and over again their mother was a sociopath, and after a while they believed him," he recalled.

Even so, it seems Bella has no plans to leave the controversial religion, and in 2019, after years of struggling to find her calling, she dove all in. That year, Scientology reporter Tony Ortega obtained an email sent out to members, which was written by a 26-year-old Bella. In it, she wrote about her journey to becoming an auditor (a member who helps "better" other members) at Scientology's center in London, England. While she praised the internship she went through and encouraged others to do it, her full letter offered several worrisome and eyebrow-raising confessions.

"I knew I needed it but every fiber of my being fought me on it," she wrote. "I was overwhelmed before I started." Noting that she was initially against doing the internship at all, she continued, "It's a few meltdowns and running to the bathroom to have a mini episode, but it is worth everything because you will get through."