A little-known fact prohibited the father/daughter duo from interacting.

Ever since Katie Holmes Houdini’ed herself out of her marriage to Tom Cruise in 2011, their daughter Suri Cruise has barely seen her father.

Holmes went to great lengths to divorce Cruise, including using burner phones, holding secret meetings with her lawyers and ultimately ended up blind-sighting Cruise.

Apparently, she left him “to protect Suri from Scientology,” Cruise admitted at the time.

This week, news broke that 16-year-old Suri is starting to apply for college, but Cruise won’t get a say in where she goes.

It’s made people wonder what exactly led to the estrangement between the father/daughter duo and just how much his religion played a part.

“He is not a part of her life”

A source told news.com.au  that the Top Gun actor, 60, hasn’t seen his daughter in ‘a very long time and is not a part of her life.’

He welcomed Suri with Holmes in 2006, but has since distanced himself from her after the divorce.

During his 2012 deposition lawsuit against Bauer Media, Cruise revealed that his commitment to Scientology was a pivotal factor in his divorce and separation from his child.

When lawyers asked whether Holmes divorced him over his ties to the controversial church he said: “That was one of the assertions, yes.”

He also admitted in that same legal case that he didn’t have any contact with Suri for three months after the divorce.

In 2013, Cruise spoke about the situation candidly with lawyers.

“Listen, when there is a divorce… things change. It’s not an ideal scene. It’s not an ideal situation.”

In 2016, Scientology was accused of keeping Tom and Suri apart. This was due to the church’s rules, which prohibits its members from associating with people who aren’t Scientologists.

And because Holmes or Suri were nonbelievers, Cruise couldn’t uphold a relationship with either of them.

In 2020, Leah Remini, a former Scientologist, told The Post that according to the church, Holmes is classified as a “suppressive person,” which is an “enemy.”

Tom and Suri at Disneyland. Image: Supplied

Suri is applying to colleges without dad’s help

It comes after The Daily Mail revealed that Suri is now applying to colleges with Holmes and her dad has nothing to do with the process.

An insider close to Holmes said that Suri “has sent some applications out” and is “leaning towards” studying fashion in New York.

Apparently, it’s a decision that would make her mum proud.

“Suri is applying to schools all over the place. [Katie] really does want her to stay in New York so they can be close to each other. Katie takes great pride in her but is also extremely overprotective,” they said.

The same source mentioned that while Tom won’t have a say in where Suri goes to college – he will pay her tuition costs, in accordance with his top-secret divorce arrangement with Holmes.