Katie Holmes emerges with a smile on her face and without her wedding band

Katie Holmes has emerged for the first time since filing for divorce from her husband Tom Cruise.

The 33-year-old actress, looked in good spirits as she headed to film a guest spot on Project Runway: All Stars in New York yesterday.

With a smile on her face and minus her wedding band, the Dark Knight actress looked refreshed in a navy and black shirt-dress, soft make-up and a slick ponytail.

It’s the first time the actress has removed her sparkling five-carat engagement diamond and band since marring the Top Gun star five years ago and she made a point of holding up her left hand for all to see.

Project Runaway judge Isaac Mizrahi said Holmes was professional and even upbeat during taping.

‘She did great,’ he told People after the show. ‘She was engaged, articulate and wonderful!’

The pre-arranged taping was filmed at Parsons The New School of Design and will air later this year.

It was risky business as usual for Cruise yesterday, who was once again spotted boarding a helicopter in Reykjavik, Iceland.

He was heading to the remote location where he is filming his new sci-fi movie, Oblivion.

Cruise will celebrate his 50th birthday today (Tuesday) on the set of his new film, as friends told how he was ‘totally devastated and heartbroken’ by the marriage split.

Reports today suggest that in Katie’s eyes, her marriage to Tom was ‘irretrievably’ broken for at least six months, and according to official documents, she claims their union had been over for some time.

However, sources close to Tom says Katie’s version of events are baffling, telling gossip website TMZ he had ‘no idea’ she was going to legally end their marriage.

Holmes – who wants sole custody of the couple’s six-year-old daughter, Suri – also claimed both she and Tom have been residents of New York for ‘at least two years’, even though their main family home is in Beverly Hills, California.

She must establish legal residency in New York in order for the court to have jurisdiction, which is something she wants because New York courts are more likely to grant her sole custody of Suri.

However, 49-year-old Tom – who also has two children, Isabella, 19, and 17-year-old Connor, with second wife Nicole Kidman – will fight the residency claim and wants the legal proceedings switched to California, where courts are more likely to grant joint custody of a child.