Just when Tom Cruise thought life couldn’t get any harder, he was forced to contend with two heartbreaking events in the same week. The actor – who has been looking increasingly gaunt and tired since Katie Holmes announced her intention to divorce him – is said to have lost 6kg from his already lean frame within three weeks.

Not only did his divorce from Katie, 33, officially go through last week, but Tom was also devastated by the news that his good friend Tony Scott, 68, plunged to his death from an LA suspension bridge just two days after they met up to scout film locations for a sequel to their 1986 blockbuster Top Gun.

Tom, 50, who also co-starred with his ex-wife Nicole Kidman in Tony’s 1990 racing hit Days Of Thunder, issued an emotional statement soon after hearing the news. “Tony was my dear friend and I will really miss him,” Tom says. “He was a creative visionary whose mark on film is immeasurable. My deepest sorrow and thoughts are with his family at this time.”

It’s no wonder this is the loneliest time in Tom’s life. With his divorce signed off by a judge last Wednesday and his beloved daughter Suri, 6, spending most of her time with her mother, it’s believed Tom is struggling to grasp just how his life spiralled out of control so quickly.

Read more about Tom's heartache in this week's Woman’s Day on sale Monday August 27, 2012.