18 April 2006
EXCLUSIVE: TOM CHEWS
Mission Impossible star Cruise vows to eat placenta after birth
By Patrick Mulchrone
TOM Cruise yesterday revealed his latest bizarre mission..to eat his new baby's placenta.
Cruise vowed he would tuck in straight after girlfriend Katie Holmes gives birth, saying he thought it would be "very nutritious".
The Mission Impossible star, 43, said: "I'm gonna eat the placenta. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I'm gonna eat the cord and the placenta right there." It is the latest in a series of increasingly strange outbursts from Cruise in the run-up to the birth.
He has claimed the baby, due any day, will be delivered in total silence.
The Top Gun star also insisted he "sensed" fiancŽe Katie was pregnant before she told him.
And he has blurted out details of the couple's sex life, saying: "It's spectacular."
The actor, who recently also claimed he has the power to cure drug addicts, has even been carrying out his own medical scans on the foetus after buying himself an ultrasound machine.
Silent birth is one of the rules of the cult of Scientology, which Cruise is devoted to.
The cult - founded by the late sci-fi writer L Ron Hubbard - claims that 75 million years ago aliens came to earth and their spirits now infest our bodies.
Cruise told GQ magazine Hubbard had discovered making a noise had a "negative spiritual effect" on someone giving birth. He insisted that 27-year-old Katie would be allowed to scream, adding cryptically: "It is really about respecting the woman. It's not about her screaming.
"And scientifically it is proven. Now there are medical research papers that say when a woman's giving birth everyone should be quiet."
Cruise also revealed he and Katie have been preparing for the birth by holding classes at their Beverly Hills home.
He said: "We've been studying what a woman goes through. What happens to her body. It's just kind of becoming this fun game of learning."
Cruise said his sex life with Batman Begins star Katie had made him realise one-night stands were "horrible".
He added: "Great sex is a by-product for me of a great relationship, where you have communication. It's an extension of that. If you're not in good communication with your partner, it sucks."
Cruise, who has two adopted children with ex-wife Nicole Kidman, will not be the first star to make a meal out of his baby's placenta.
Rod Stewart and girlfriend Penny Lancaster took home their baby's placenta, sprinkled it with tee tree oil and buried it in the garden.
In 1998, Channel 4 chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall fried a placenta with shallots and garlic and served it up to 20 guests, including the baby's mum and dad.
TV watchdogs later criticised the show, branding it "disagreeable".
But placenta-eating is considered normal in some cultures. Various recipes include one for placenta lasagne. Some say eating it helps avoid post-natal depression.
p.mulchrone@mirror.co.uk
TOM'S NEW MOVIES..
Mission Impassable
A Chew Good Men
Eyes Wide Gut
Top Gum
The Gore of the Worlds
Cord on the Fourth of July
Days of Chunder
Maternity Report
Interwomb with the Vampire
Jman
Linear Mode
