Tom Cruise back at ground zero: Oprah's couch

By M&C Smallscreen Apr 25, 2008, 16:21 GMT

02/21/2008 - Tom Cruise - Beverly Hills Hotel - Beverly Hills, CA, USA © Inez Lewis / PR Photos

Tom Cruise is set to revisit ground zero of the undoing of his career and reputation: The couch of Oprah Winfrey's chat show.

The 2005 Cruise appearance on Oprah opened the floodgates of questions regarding the actor, who had dumped his long time publicist Pat Kingsley and replaced the tough cookie with his Scientologist sister.

Tom Cruise is about to return to Oprah in a two-part special starting next week.

When Tom Cruise jumped on the couch on the Oprah show declaring his love for Katie Holmes three years ago, it became a laughing stock moment.

The odd antics and over-the-top declaration of love for the bland Holmes put people off Tom Cruise to such a degree that Paramount's Sumner Redstone forced him off the lot.

Subsequently Oprah was not invted to the nuptials of Tom and Kate.

Now the Associated Press reports:

"Friends and colleagues will surprise Cruise with taped messages honoring his work in movies, according to a statement Thursday from Harpo Productions. Winfrey will interview Cruise from his home in Telluride, Colo., for the first show on May 2, which will cover his 'family, his life and the future,' Harpo said. Then on May 5, Cruise will appear in Winfrey’s Chicago studio."

Who the friends are was not noted, but bets are on the Xenu worshipping OT V and up crowd will be representing, people like John Travolta, Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Kirstie Alley and Leah Remini.