Tom Cruise Once Went Out on a Date With Heather Locklear and Ended Up Doing the Most ’80s Thing

When Heather Locklear and Tom Cruise were first starting out their careers in the 1980s, she gave him a chance, but his personality was at odds with hers. Last week on the 90s Con Florida panel, Locklear brought up an incident from when she and Cruise were both auditioning for the same project. As reported by People, Locklear revealed, "We both did an audition for the film together — the two of us — and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I'm terrible. He's even worse!.'"

Upon first meeting, Locklear had the impression that Cruise's way of life wouldn't mesh well with her own. Regardless, she set off on a romantic evening with the budding celebrity. She said, "He didn't quite cut it. We went out dancing to Club Lingerie at that time, and — and I've said this before — I mean, he was really cute." Furthermore, Locklear claimed that she was an early witness to the introduction of Cruise's now-iconic dance technique, in which he gracefully descends to his knees, in Risky Business. Locklear said, "He actually did that before [the movie], and I was dancing along like, ‘Do you stop dancing if they're down there?’ I was like, ‘Yay!’ But he was very nice to me." Later, with a nod to their audition, Locklear concluded, "By the way, neither of us got that part."

Now, this isn't the first time she's brought up this tale; in fact, it was in an interview she gave to Chelsea Lately in 2013. She stated that the two of them had 'auditioned for something' together in the early 1980s when Tom 'didn't have friends' in Hollywood. As reported by She Knows, Locklear revealed at the time, "You know in ‘Risky Business’ where he does that dance in his underwear and does the splits? We were dancing at a club and he went into that. He starting doing the splits. You just kind of stand there and don’t know what to do. Do you dance around him? So, I was like, ‘I’ll just sit down and you can.’"

When it comes to her private life, Locklear has never strayed from marrying a rock star. To begin with, in 1986, she tied the knot with Tommy Lee, drummer for Mötley Crüe. However, according to Entertainment Weekly, the couple filed for a divorce in 1994 because of allegations of adultery by Lee while he was on tour. She wed Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora later that year. They seemed to be living the dream for 11 years. However, ABC News claimed in 2006 that Sambora was "blindsided" by her divorce filing. The exes have a daughter, Ava Sambora, together.

Following the breakups of these relationships, Locklear dated cosmetic surgeon Marc Mani for three years until their 2016 separation, according to Radar Online. Chris Heisser, whom she started seeing in 2017, led her into a new romantic relationship. Quickly blossoming into a happy marriage, Locklear and Heisser are still together today.