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After 19 years of marriage, Australian golden couple Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are parting ways.
US site TMZ first reported the separation on Tuesday (AEST), noting that the couple have reportedly already been living apart for months. It appears the split was not mutual, as a source close to the family – who chose to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the matter – told this masthead that Kidman has been fighting for the survival of the marriage and that she is “broken-hearted”.
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Despite no comment so far from the couple’s representatives, news of their split has shocked fans, particularly given their recent appearance together at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May. Kidman has also been quoted in recent interviews speaking fondly of their relationship, calling Urban her “deep, deep love”.
So, how did one of the country’s most famous and beloved couples end up here? Let’s reflect on their nearly two-decade relationship.
January 2005
The Oscar-winning actor and Grammy-winning country singer meet at the G’Day LA gala ball, a Hollywood event honouring Australians in the entertainment business. However, Urban doesn’t officially ask Kidman on a date until four months later.
Speaking on TV show Interview in 2018, Urban says he wasn’t in a healthy place in his life at the time but he eventually built the confidence to call. “I’d never have thought she’d see anything in a guy like me. But at some point I plucked up the courage to call those numbers, and she answered, and we started talking, and we talked and talked and talked and talked, and it was effortless.”
The couple met at the G’Day LA gala in 2005.Credit: Getty Images
February 2006
The pair make their public debut at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, though they don’t walk the carpet together.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. Credit: Getty Images
May 2006
Kidman casually announces her engagement to Urban with People magazine after hosting the 30th-anniversary gala for UNIFEM. “He’s actually my fiance. I wouldn’t be bringing my boyfriend,” she tells the magazine.
Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban during UNIFEM’s 30th Anniversary Celebration hosted by Kidman.Credit: WireImage
Urban’s publicist later confirms the news with US news outlet Today.
June 2006
The pair wed in Manly at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in St Patrick’s Estate. The wedding draws a star-studded guest list including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Rupert Murdoch and Naomi Watts.
Nicole Kidman leaves her home on the way to her wedding to Keith Urban.Credit: AAPIMAGE
October 2006
Just four months after tying the knot, Urban checks himself into the Betty Ford Centre in Palm Springs for drug and alcohol addiction.
“I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me,” he says in a statement at the time. “With the strength and unwavering support I am blessed to have from my wife, family and friends, I am determined and resolved to a positive outcome.”
However, the country singer later says his time at rehab ultimately brought the couple closer together. “The way in which Nic handled that moment was just perfect … Everything was just designed, I believe, for that moment to fuse us together,” he says on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2010.
Kidman also spoke about the experience during a 2007 interview with Vanity Fair, noting that she learnt a great deal by supporting someone in recovery and that she is “more than willing to walk it with him”.
“The two of us are very committed to our relationship,” she says.
Kidman and then-fiance Keith Urban spent a quiet evening with family in Sydney to celebrate her 39th birthday in 2006.Credit: AAPIMAGE
January-July 2008
The couple announce they are expecting their first child in early 2008 and Sunday Rose is born in July. She is Urban’s first child and Kidman’s third (she already shares two adopted children with her ex-husband Tom Cruise).
December 2010
Their second child, Faith Margaret, is born via surrogate. The couple keeps the news incredibly quiet, only sharing it with the world weeks after she is born.
“Our family is truly blessed, and just so thankful, to have been given the gift of baby Faith Margaret,” the couple say in a statement at the time. “No words can adequately convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier.”
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban arrive at Sydney Airport with their daughters Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret. Credit: GC Images
September 2014
Kidman unexpectedly loses her father Antony to a heart attack. Reflecting on such a difficult time in her life later, Kidman tells Ellen DeGeneres that Urban “carried her” through.
The couple at Antony Kidman’s funeral service.Credit: AAPIMAGE
“To have my husband to step up in that way, it makes me cry. He’s amazing … To be literally carried by your partner, physically at times because I was so devastated, it’s just like, ‘I’ll do anything for that man’.”
Pallbearers including Keith Urban at Antony Kidman’s funeral.Credit: AAPIMAGE
June 2016
Urban tells Rolling Stone that he “caused the implosion of my fresh marriage” before going to rehab in 2006. “It survived but it’s a miracle it did. I was spiritually awoken with her. I use the expression ‘I was born into her’ and that’s how I feel. And, for the first time in my life, I could shake off the shackles of addiction.”
October 2018-June 2024
Over the next few years Urban and Kidman take turns outwardly sharing their love for each other with the world, including a string of gushy Instagram anniversary posts.
Kidman tells Harper’s Bazaar in 2018 that the secret to her happy marriage is making quality time for each other. In 2022 she tells CBS Mornings that Urban is the “best thing that’s ever happened” to her.
In 2023 Urban performs his track Without You during the first concert of his second Las Vegas residency alongside footage of his and Kidman’s wedding.
The pair also support each other at several award shows and events, including the Met Gala, the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and the Academy of Country Music Awards. Urban is photographed on some of these red carpets exhibiting immense appreciation for his wife’s derriere.
April 2025
Kidman tells People magazine that Urban is her “deep, deep love” and that he gives her the ability to do whatever she needs to because she knows “where [she] can come back to”.
May 2025
The pair make their final red carpet appearance together at the Academy of Country Music Awards, where Urban is given the Triple Crown Award. During his acceptance speech he mentions his wife, saying, “I love you, baby girl”.
Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman attend the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards.Credit: Getty Images
June 2025
Kidman posts a photo of herself and Urban cuddling together on Instagram to honour their 19th wedding anniversary.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban in an anniversary post from her Instagram. Credit: Instagram
September 2025
News of the couple’s separation breaks. A source close to the family tells this masthead that Kidman is “broken-hearted” and that the actor has been attempting to keep the family together for several months for the sake of her children.
US site TMZ reported the couple have been living apart “since the beginning of [the northern] summer”.
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