Katie Holmes and Jamie Foxx finally confirm romance after Tom Cruise banned her 'publicly dating'

Surreptitious lovers Katie Holmes and Jamie Foxx have stepped out as a couple in public for the first time since they began dating in 2013.

The happy couple couldn't contain their passion for one another as they held hands and frolicked on a beach in Malibu in pictures obtained by MailOnline.

Holmes, 38, and Foxx, 49, are believed to have taken extraordinary measures to keep their relationship secret due to the mother-of-one's ex-husband Tom Cruise allegedly including a clause in her 2012 divorce settlement banning her from publicly dating for five years.

But the cat is finally out of the bag as the couple looked happier than ever as they held hands and laughed together while walking along the sand on Monday (4 September). Holmes wore a summery blue print dress as Jamie kept it casual in a T-shirt and Adidas tracksuit bottoms, with both of them wearing fedora hats and sunglasses.

The couple are said to have spent America's Labor Day holiday together at an oceanfront home where they were also spotted on the beachfront patio. They have eschewed rumours that they were an item in the past and Holmes never commented on the reports while Foxx often dismissed it as "fake news", insisting that they were "just friends."

The Dawson's Creek actress divorced Cruise in 2012 after five years of marriage , with it being the Top Gun actor's third divorce. Her daughter from the marriage, Suri, is now 11 years old. Holmes was romantically linked to Foxx a little more than a year after her marriage split.

Foxx has two daughters named Corinne Bishop and Annalise, with Corinne making her formal debut at the Bal des debutantes in November 2014 and was named Miss Golden Globe 2016. He has never been married. The Texas-born star won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his impressive portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film Ray.