Kidman files for divorce from Urban after 19 years

Nicole Kidman has filed for divorce from Keith Urban after 19 years of marriage.

Kidman petitioned on Tuesday to end the marriage in a Nashville court.

The filing states the marriage “suffered irreconcilable differences“.

The 58-year-old Oscar-winning actor and the 57-year-old Grammy-winning country singer, both raised in Australia, met in 2005 at a Los Angeles event honouring Australians and were married in Sydney the following year.

They have two teenage daughters together.

The marriage was the first for Urban and the second for Kidman, who was married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001.

Kidman also has two older children with Cruise.

Last year at the premiere of the Netflix series The Perfect Couple, Kidman told the Associated Press the term did not apply to her and Urban.

“You’re heading for trouble if you consider yourselves the perfect couple,” she said.

“I’m not a believer in perfect.”

A few months earlier, Urban paid tribute to Kidman – and brought her to tears  – when she received the AFI Life Achievement Award.

Urban said she showed him “what love in action really looks like” when his substance abuse problems emerged almost immediately after they wed in 2006.

“Four months into our marriage, I’m in rehab for three months,” Urban said.

“Nic pushed through every negative voice, I’m sure even some of her own, and she chose love. And here we are 18 years later.”

Kidman’s film roles have included Days of Thunder, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge and The Hours, for which she won an Academy Award for playing author Virginia Woolf.

She has more recently worked in television, including the series Nine Perfect Strangers and Big Little Lies, for which she won Emmys as both actor and producer.

Urban has been a major country star since the 1990s, with hits including Somebody Like You and Blue Ain’t Your Colour.

He has won four Grammy Awards and more than a dozen Academy of Country Music Awards.

Their split was first reported by TMZ.

“Sometimes relationships just run their course,” an unnamed source close to the couple told the New York Post, confirming the split.

In June, Kidman, 58, shared a photo of herself cuddled up to Urban on Instagram to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

Urban, 57, has moved out of the couple’s Nashville home, according to the reports, with claims Kidman was desperate to save the relationship.

“She didn’t want this,” another source told People magazine.

“She has been fighting to save the marriage.”

Another insider told the magazine the news might be a shock to Hollywood, but those in the pair’s inner circle wouldn’t be surprised.

“People close to Keith felt like the split was kind of inevitable,” the source said.

“They’ve been living separately for a while now.”

Urban’s last post on his Instagram was in February 2024 and on Tuesday it began filling with messages from followers pleading with him to save his marriage.

The couple share two children, Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14, as well as a significant property portfolio spanning Australia and the US.

Kidman last posted on her Instagram a week ago, when she attended the Nashville Film Festival.

Eyebrows were raised in July when an online interview with an Adelaide radio show ended abruptly after Urban was asked how he felt about his wife’s intimate scenes with other men in her movies.

It’s unclear whether Urban or his team ended the call or if the line dropped out because of a technical issue.

In January, Urban thanked Kidman – affectionately calling her “Nicole Mary” –  while being inducted into the Roll of Renown at the Golden Guitar Awards in Tamworth.

Kidman was unable to watch him accept the Australian country music honour because she was filming in Nashville and Germany, he said.

“I want to thank our girls, Sunday and Faith,” he said during his acceptance speech.

“I couldn’t be here without the three of them and their love.”

Richard Wilkins, Nine’s long-time entertainment editor, declined to comment directly on the news, citing personal confidentiality.

“They’re both very treasured friends of mine and I love them both very dearly,” Wilkins told the Today program.

“I have nothing to add to this story. They’ve never commented on any of my circumstances over the years and I’m not going to comment on theirs.”

Kidman is believed to have just wrapped the Practical Magic sequel, and is set to star in the Amazon series Scarpetta alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, as well as the HBO series The Last Anniversary.

The Babygirl actor has reportedly applied for Portuguese residency.

The couple married in June 2006, after meeting at the G’Day USA gala in January 2005.

Kidman was previously married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001. She and the Top Gun actor share two adopted children, daughter Bella, 32, and son Connor, 30.