Tortured past of Tom Cruise’s actress ‘Gal Pal’ Victoria Canal
Tom Cruise’s new love interest has spent years battling disability bullies.
August 13, 2024, published at 12:30 PM ET
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Our exclusive photos showed Cruise giving Canal the VIP treatment with a ride on its private helicopter in July.
RadarOnline.com also revealed how the Born on the 4th of July had a star Down $230 million in a luxurious London penthouse while he, like Victoria, settles in Great Britain.
Days ago, it was reported that Cruise had also flown the musician to the set Mission impossible 8 and also the Twisters premiere.
But as the rumor mill that he is dating the one-armed musician reached fever pitch among the actor’s fans, Canal has now spoken out on Instagram to deny that there is anything romantic about their relationship.
She wrote: “Guys this is literally crazy but apparently the tabloids think I’m dating Tom Cruise. I have died. Let’s just stop this – I’m sorry to upset you, but I’m not dating the guy, even if he’s a nice person and artist.
“Lol never thought I would have to clarify that out loud in my life. all of you. if you’re going to write to me on @pagesix, use a better photo, dammit. big advantage: for the first time I am the Spanish-American singer Victoria Canal and not a one-armed pianist whose name remains unmentioned!!!! there is always a win somewhere, thanks Tom.”
Her post – seen below – contained echoes of past confessions that we can now reveal, in which Canal admitted how she has been scarred by dealing with society as a disabled ‘queer’ musician.
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Canal – who has managed to make a name for herself as a guitar- and piano-playing singer-songwriter despite being born without a right forearm and hand due to a condition called amniotic band syndrome – opened up about her past pain in one of her most honest interviews ever in 2022.
About living with a disability, she said: “I’m not ashamed of it at all. However, I have no control over the extent to which it dominates the music, over what people want to talk about.
“When I listen to other artists’ interviews, they ask about the recording process and songwriting.
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“And for me it’s always, ‘What’s it like to be a disabled person?’ That’s what it’s always about.
“I don’t identify closely with my disability, it’s a part of my body, but what does that have to do with my music? It’s almost like a mindf—.
“It’s like being gay and being an artist. What else matters more than perhaps the pronouns you use to someone in a song?
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Canal, Bruce Springsteen and Cruise pose for a photo backstage at one of the Boss’ shows during another night out for the singer and actor.
“What does your sexual orientation have to do with your artistic craft? It may affect it one way or another, but the most important thing is the artistry.”
Canal was also furious that she felt like artists are “always defined by one thing,” adding: “Whether it’s criticism for being gay; or Lizzo for being one proud, body positive woman; Harry Styles because they dress more androgynously.”
The singer – born in Munich and lived in Shanghai, Tokyo, Barcelona, Madrid, Dubai and Amsterdam – also said that ‘queerness’ was ‘super complicated’ as she feels that ‘queer artists are clearly not represented enough’. .
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She said: “You see playlists on Spotify that say, ‘Music made by queer people.’ And the same goes for disabilities, but I wish we lived in a world where none of that mattered, like a neo-futuristic world where no matter what kind of body you have, you’re not lumped in with these people and these people, but you are also not at a disadvantage because you look a certain way.
“And the fact is that we live in a world right now where you are still disadvantaged if you look a certain way.”
Canal told Gay Times last year how she proudly went on stage supporting Hozier and declared to fans: “I’m gay.”
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Canal was born without a right forearm and hand due to a condition called amniotic band syndrome.
She added 2022 chat with Why Now when asked to describe the impact her disability has had on her: ‘It affected me most about the way people saw and treated me, rather than the way I feel, in terms of abilities.
“I just had no control over it. You just feel a little less desirable, a little less beautiful, less popular, and you have no control over how your body looks. You have this body and because of whatever body you appear, the world decides how to treat you, and I think that’s the tragedy of it.
“I guess as someone who grew up with a physical difference, I was always the odd one out in some way.”
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Canal also admitted that even though she has a “very outgoing” side, she “always was, and still am, a very chronically lonely person.”
When asked if her music was a “bit of a ‘f— you’ to the people who had previously rejected you,” Canal admitted: “Yes, people who bullied me and called me disgusting.
“The number of times I was called disgusting because of my difference as a child… but that is no longer my driving force. My driving force now is that I am obsessed with music. And I just want to be there all the time. And I want to be around people who are better than me so that I can become better.
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Cruise has poured more than $200 million of his fortune into a penthouse in London, where Canal spends much of her time.
Canal also opened up about her relationship with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, 47, who got her on stage at Glastonbury this summer after she jokingly hooked up with him online.
She added: “He also asked me about my arm. He said, “How does it feel to be interviewed all the time?”
“And honestly, sometimes it sucks – to be so excited about something, and then the headline comes out and it doesn’t even have my name in it. It says ‘One-handed’, whatever. That can be very frustrating.
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“I said that sometimes I worry that I am where I am only because of my difference – that people symbolize it and are fascinated by it, but would anyone care if I just looked like a healthy person?
“And he said, ‘You could look like a marshmallow and you would still be really good at music.’ And that was all I needed.”
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