Last Christmas, journalist Stuart Heritage received two cakes from Tom Cruise, a gesture the actor is known for making to hundreds of people each year. Determined to repay the favour, Heritage attended the London premiere of Top Gun: Maverick this week, hoping to present Cruise with a homemade cake.
The premiere, held in Leicester Square, was a grand affair with multiple red carpets and a fighter jet centrepiece. Heritage planned to bake a white chocolate bundt cake, but his editor advised that a cake handover was unlikely given the royal nature of the event. Undeterred, Heritage devised a backup plan: he would hide two Wagon Wheels in his tuxedo jacket pocket and offer them to Cruise.
However, security was tight, and Heritage found himself on a red carpet far from Cruise, separated by 50 metres and a vast status gap. The closest he got was when Cruise gave a speech before the film. Heritage's brother jokingly suggested throwing a Wagon Wheel at Cruise, but Heritage refrained, fearing the consequences.
After the film, Heritage discovered that the Wagon Wheels had melted in the heat. Despite this, he remains determined to reciprocate Cruise's kindness, offering the remaining four Wagon Wheels from the multipack if Cruise is interested.
