Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban to Divorce After Nearly 20 Years of Marriage: Take a Look Back at the A-List Star’s Relationship History
The actress once called her marriage 'very, very peaceful,' but unfortunately, this is no longer the case
Nicole Kidman has long been one of Hollywood’s most dynamic leading ladies, and the award-winning star of movies like Moulin Rouge!, The Hours and Dogville and shows like Big Little Lies and The Perfect Couple is just as captivating offscreen, as evidenced by the ongoing interest in her personal life.
Early in her career, Kidman received much attention for her marriage to Tom Cruise, and they became one of the celebrity power couples that defined the ’90s. After their highly-publicized 2001 divorce, she had some relationships you may have forgotten about. In 2006, she married country singer Keith Urban, and the pair was seen as a model celebrity couple for nearly two decades. When news of their divorce came out this week, fans were shocked, as the Babygirl star had previously called their marriage “very, very peaceful,” and they were seen looking affectionate as ever on the red carpet just a few months ago.
Read on to see what we know about Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s shocking split and take a journey through the actress’ storied relationship history, from her famous first marriage to her so-called divorce photo that became an infamous meme to the sweet things she said about Urban in happier days.
What we know about Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s surprise split
Nicole Kidman met Keith Urban, a fellow Australian, at G’Day LA, an event celebrating Australian culture, in 2005. They married the next year, and their daughter, Sunday Rose, now a model, was born in 2008. In 2010, they had another daughter, Faith Margaret, via surrogate.
The news of Kidman and Urban’s initial separation was revealed by gossip site TMZ on September 29. According to unidentified sources, the couple has been living apart for months and Kidman has been taking on primary parenting duties for their two teen daughters. There’s been speculation that Kidman has been trying unsuccessfully to keep the marriage alive, and a source told People that the actress has been finding support by spending time with her younger sister, journalist Antonia Kidman.
On September 30, People confirmed that Kidman filed for divorce. While Kidman and Urban seemed happy for years, there may have been signs of an impending split, as eagle-eyed fans took the fact that Kidman shared a romantic Instagram post to celebrate their 19th anniversary on June 25, but Urban didn’t do the same on his page, as a potentially ominous sign.
What have Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban said about each other?
For years, it seemed like Kidman and Urban had an enviably solid marriage, as the Practical Magic actress and the star of the upcoming country music competition series The Road both talked openly about how they helped each other navigate through tough times.
At a 2024 event honoring Kidman, Urban got candid about how his personal demons almost ruined their marriage early on, saying, “We got married in June 2006 and barely four months into our marriage, my addictions that I’d done really nothing about, blew our marriage to smithereens,” the country singer said onstage, explaining, “I went into the Betty Ford Center for three months. Four months into a marriage, I’m in rehab for three months. I had no idea what was going to happen to us. And if you want to see what love in action really looks like, give that a whirl. Nic pushed through every negative voice, I’m sure even some of her own and she chose love.” Urban ended his heartfelt speech by saying, “Next year will be 20 years that I’ve been madly in love with you,” but sadly, it looks like the couple won’t make it to that milestone.
Kidman guided Urban through the chaos of addiction, and in the past, she spoke emotionally about how the musician helped her cope after the death of her parents. “When you have your partner who just literally carries you through a tough time . . . Oh, he’s been amazing to me,” she said. “To have my husband to step up in that way, it makes me cry. I’ll do anything for that man.”
Kidman had also made it clear that no matter how famous she and Urban were, they wanted to keep things down to earth. As she described, “We don’t want to be a pin-up couple. We just want to be a couple that has a great life together.” Asked for the secret to her happy marriage, Kidman said, “Just love. Just love each other, lavish each other with love. Also we just happen to like each other too. That works.” She also said a major factor in their marital success was “Not having secrets,” noting, “We never tell anybody any advice about their relationship or think that we have a secret. We just approach it with humility and hope and just really love hanging out.”
The truths Kidman and Urban have previously revealed about their marriage and how they’ve overcome hardships have been admirable, and it’s particularly sad to think of them breaking up after sharing such lovely and sincere words about one another.
Nicole Kidman’s first marriage to Tom Cruise
Before her long marriage to Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman was married to Tom Cruise for 11 years. The couple met on the set of the 1990 car-racing drama Days of Thunder, when she was a rising star and Cruise was an in-demand leading man. They married that same year and adopted their daughter, Isabelle, now an artist, in 1992. In 1995, they adopted their son, Connor, who now fishes, golfs and runs his own barbecue business. Before Kidman met Cruise, she dated her fellow Australian actors Tom Burlinson and Marcus Graham in the ’80s.
While married, Kidman and Cruise also starred together in the 1992 period drama Far and Away and the provocative 1999 psychological thriller Eyes Wide Shut. The actors’ portrayal of a couple facing marital woes and getting pulled into dark places in Eyes Wide Shut raised eyebrows upon release, and there was much speculation about whether the film was a case of art mirroring life.
Kidman and Cruise divorced in 2001. Looking back at her marriage, the actress, who was 23 when she tied the knot, told Vanity Fair, “I was a child, really, when I got married. And I needed to grow up.”
While Kidman and Cruise’s fame put pressure on their marriage, Kidman also spoke about how it bonded them, telling Vanity Fair, “There is something about that sort of existence that, if you really focus on each other and you’re in that bubble, it’s very intoxicating, because it’s just the two of you. And there is only one other person that’s going through it.”
Kidman also said that while her divorce was a “major shock,” she maintained affection for her ex, adding, “He was huge; still is. To me, he was just Tom, but to everybody else, he is huge. But he was lovely to me. And I loved him. I still love him.”
The truth about *that* divorce photo
We don’t know why Kidman and Urban’s marriage is coming to an end, and people still often speculate over the actress’ first divorce. In recent years, a photo of a triumphant-looking Kidman, supposedly taken right after finalizing her divorce from Cruise, has gone viral many times over.
In a 2024 interview with British GQ, Kidman disappointed her online admirers when asked about her divorce meme, saying, “That was not me; that was from a film, that wasn’t real life. I know that image!” As for how Kidman actually appeared after her divorce was made official—well, that’s not for us to know!
After splitting up with Cruise, Kidman became more famous than ever, saying, “Out of my divorce came work that was applauded so that was an interesting thing for me.” In 2003, she was rumored to be seeing the rapper Q-Tip, and she then started dating boho rocker Lenny Kravitz. Kidman and Kravitz secretly got engaged, but ultimately decided to call it off.
After the bombshell news of Kidman’s divorce from Urban, we don’t know what’s next for her love life, but we know she’ll handle whatever drama arises with grace.
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