The 33-year-old actress, who has looked decidedly tense and unkempt in recent weeks, cut a stylish and serene figure as she headed to film a guest spot on Project Runway: All Stars in New York today.
Her smile evoked memories of the famous picture of Nicole Kidman leaping with joy after her own divorce from Cruise in 2001.
She wore a navy and black shirt-dress, soft make-up and a slick ponytail for the outing but one accessory was noticeably absent - her wedding ring.
Single and smiling: Katie Holmes left the Parsons School of Design after taping Project Runway in New York City today
Defiant: The 33-year-old looked in surprisingly good spirits during the outing
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Project Runaway judge Isaac Mizrahi said Holmes was professional and even upbeat during taping.
'She did great,' he told People after the show.
Added an insider: 'She was engaged, articulate and wonderful!'
The pre-arranged taping was filmed at Parsons The New School of Design and will air later this year.
It was risky business as usual for Cruise yesterday, who was once again spotted boarding a helicopter in Reykjavik, Iceland.
He was heading to the remote location where he is filming his new sci-fi movie, Oblivion.
Cruise will celebrate his 50th birthday tomorrow on the set of his new film, as friends told how he was ‘totally devastated and heartbroken’ by the marriage split.
At war: Katie's estranged husband Tom Cruise emerged in Iceland today with a face like thunder
No ring: It is the first time Katie has been seen without her wedding band
Sparkler: Katie's five carat engagement ring
She filed for divorce from her husband of five years last week in New York and, according to official documents, she said their union had been over for some time.
However, sources close to Tom says Katie's version of events are baffling, telling gossip website TMZ he had 'no idea' she was going to legally end their marriage.
Holmes - who wants sole custody of the couple's six-year-old daughter, Suri - also claimed both she and Tom have been residents of New York for 'at least two years', even though their main family home is in Beverly Hills, California.
Glowing review: Project Runaway judge Isaac Mizrahi said Katie did a 'great' job
Back to her best: The actress (pictured left this morning and right on May 30) looked polished today following a tense few weeks
New lease of life: Nicole Kidman was full of joy
as she left an attorney's office after her divorce settlement with Tom
Cruise back in 2001
However, 49-year-old Tom - who also has two children, Isabella, 19, and 17-year-old Connor, with second wife Kidman - will fight the residency claim and wants the legal proceedings switched to California, where courts are more likely to grant joint custody of a child.
Since the news of the divorce was announced, Tom admitted he was 'deeply saddened' but sources claim he will respond by filing his own divorce papers in California.
Spotlight: She made her way through the media pack
Law enforcement were first alerted to the unidentified men surrounding Katie's Chelsea apartment building on Friday, but were unable to take any action because the former Dawson's Creek star didn't make the call herself, sources tell the New York Post.
Yesterday, the men, who were reportedly armed, were pictured sitting inside a white Cadillac Escalade, taking pictures and questioning several people outside of the actress's apartment building.
Focusing on work: The actor boarded a helicopter from Reykjavik to the set of his new movie Oblivion
According to the Post, police checked the vehicle's Tennessee number plates and questioned the men inside, but could not elicit any substantial answers.
Even a reporter from the New York Post approached the car to question the men's intentions, but were met with stony silence.
Since being spotted in the cars there has been intense speculation about who the men are and where they come from.
Surrounded: Yesterday, the reportedly heavily armed
men were pictured sitting inside a white Cadillac Escalade, taking
pictures and questioning people outside of Katie's apartment building
However, a lawyer for the Church Gary Soter told TMZ that the Scientology movement is 'not following Katie or conducting surveillance on her in the wake of her divorce with Tom Cruise'.
Sources say that Katie saw this coming, prompting immediate action and secretive moves.
Surrounded: Men with cameras have been seen surrounding Katie's apartment in Chelsea
Undercover: A man with an earpiece, thought to
be part of Katie's security team, is seen talking on the phone outside
her apartment building
'Suri is at the age where they are going to start educating her in Scientology centers and indoctrinating her into the religion.
'Katie did convert when she and Tom were married, but she didn’t take to it. Behind closed doors, and when the private planes and the red carpets were gone, she didn’t like it.
'And she decided she does not want that for Suri.'
Followed? Katie is said to have been trailed for several days
Sea Org, as it is known, is where the highest levels of Scientology are taught and children as young as five can be sent to live there - without their parents.
The company has been often compared to a boot camp and several ex-Scientologists (including Oscar winner Paul Haggis) have been outspoken against its military-like conditions.
Initially created at sea, maritime customs and traditions persist today even in the land-based branches of the organisation.
Support system: Katie's father Martin Holmes, a
prominent Ohio-based attorney, is said to be helping his daughter with
the divorce
The website claims that Katie and Tom had been arguing over Suri's indoctrination into Scientology -- and it seems that for Katie talk of her six-year-old joining Sea Org was the final straw.
Katie was said to have been planning the big move from the Manhattan apartment she shared with Tom to her own Chelsea apartment for several weeks.
Tug of love: Katie in New York with Suri last week
She apparently finally began the process when Tom travelled to Iceland to film his latest movie Oblivion. It has been revealed that Katie's Ohio-based attorney father Martin was a key figure in actress's final shock decision to divorce Cruise.
According to People, Katie's father came to New York and immediately stepped in to help.
'Her father came into town and fired (people surrounding Katie),' a source told the magazine.
Big part: The Church Of Scientology has played a big part of the now estranged couple's lives
However, the final decision was down to Katie and only Katie.
'She's a strong person and makes up her own mind. She's unwavering,' the source added.
Cruise appeared oblivious to his wife's discontent just two weeks ago and gushed about her at a ceremony to accept his Friars Club Foundation Award just two weeks ago.
Tom who took his children Suri and Connor as dates to the event, said after he picked up his award: 'My wife who couldn't be here tonight, I have to thank, she made this suit for me. She's amazing. I'm very lucky to be married to her.
Focused on work: Tom was pictured on filming his new movie Oblivion in Iceland last Wednesday
The couple are worth around $275million - much of that owing to Tom's box office success.
The terms of the pre-nup are understood to be clear, although she is likely to contest it.
For each year the couple stay married, she collects $3million - to a maximum of $33 million after 11 years - as well as their palatial home in California.
Dream wedding: The pair married in an Italian castle in 2006 and filed their marriage certificate in California
After filing for divorce less than six years later, according to the agreement, Katie should only be entitled to $15million as well as the couple's $35million Beverly Hills Mansion
But with an estate worth upwards of $275million, Katie is expected to seek much more and there is already intense speculation as to how much she will collect when the papers are signed.
