KEY POINTS:
Reports out of the US this morning indicate that Katie Holmes may be preparing to leave her husband Tom Cruise.
Star magazine reports that Holmes is being "crushed" by the weight of her marriage to Cruise and wants to take their daughter Suri to New York with her as she attempts a sort of trial separation.
"She desperately needs to be on her own for a while, but there's no way Tom is going to let her take Suri away," an insider reportedly told Star.
The news of Holmes' planned flight to the east coast comes following months of speculation in the media that all is not right between the former Dawson's Creek actress and her Top Gun husband.
Holmes has reportedly been suffering from fainting spells and persistent headaches and friends said they were worried about the frail actress' health.
The UK's Daily Mail reported that Cruise had instructed Holmes to stay away from Victoria Beckham - one of her few friends in Tinseltown - because he thought their friendship was having a negative effect on his wife's attitude towards her body.
Holmes has been offered a role on Broadway and apparently sees it as the perfect excuse to move to Manhattan - but she won't go without her daughter and that's causing a further rift between the couple.
"Tom wants to call all the shots when it comes to Suri," an insider told Star.
"He has a lot of rules, and there's conflict."
But the one suffering most in Holmes and Cruise's battle seems to be the one person they both want to protect.
Suri, who turns two today, is spending a lot of time with nannies instead of her parents, according to Star.
"She gets a lot of attention," a source told the magazine.
"But every child wants to be with their parents - there is no substitute."
- NZ HERALD STAFF
