Tom Cruise just appeared on the live 25th anniversay special of the German show Wetten Das tonight. He left around 9:00 PM our time, which is 2:00 PM EST. My husband and I were out to dinner and only caught the second half of the program.

When he was about to leave, Cruise mentioned Holmes specifically and said that she gave him permission to attend:

(It was difficult to understand as Tom was over dubbed in German)

Wetten Das, German for “Wanna Bet?” airs about once a month and is easily the most popular show in Germany. It features celebrity guests, live performances by musicians, and hysterical and creative bets. Today two girls had to identify the lip prints of members of their class. In an earlier episode, a man identified seed types by the sound the seed packets made when shaken. Celebrities take a side in the bet and have to perform silly antics if they’re wrong.

Cruise lost the bet and was supposed to have a motorcycle race as his part of the bargain. Wearing a tight black sweater and jeans, he swaggered over to a white motorcycle, which he was initially unable to start, and rode around the stage. The host, Thomas Gottschalks, came out on a tiny tricycle to “race” Tom.

After the non-race, Tom gave his apologies and left. This is not unusual on Wetten Das – the big celebrities often leave before the end.

The 25th Anniversay special is a huge event, and although Tom should have stayed home with Katie, it’s easy to see why he chose to attend.

The Wetten Das website says (in German) that Tom arrived at 7:45 (the show starts at 8:15) with seven S-class Mercedes limousines. He didn’t even see the stage before he came on.

Update: there is a video interview in English with Cruise accessible from the ZDF network website. Cruise says about the same thing as when he had to leave Wetten Das early – that Katie is about to have the baby “any day now” and gave him permission to go.