Silke Jasso
Remember when Nicole Kidman married Tom Cruise? Neither do I — it was only 30 years ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago (which actually makes sense, because I’m 32), The Australian actress was only 23 years old when she married a then 28-year-old Tom Cruise. “I was so young when I got married,” Kidman said in an interview with Red Magazine. I look back now and I’m like, ‘What?”
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Over the course of their 11-year marriage, the celeb couple adopted two kids: Isabella and Connor. Meanwhile, they both held down successful Hollywood careers. But this story isn’t about Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. Instead, it’s about the unlikely love that followed their divorce.
Nicole Kidman Meets Keith Urban.
Kidman and Keith Urban met in Los Angeles in 2005 at the G’Day USA gala, an event bringing together leaders from the U.S. and Australia. “I remember thinking, I had such a crush on him, and he wasn’t interested in me,” the star of HBO’s Big Little Lies remembered in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres. “It’s true! He didn’t call me for four months.”
But the country music artist did end up calling. Within six months of dating, Urban won Kidman’s heart when he surprised her with gardenias on her stoop on her birthday. Soon after, they went on a motorbike trip to Woodstock, New York to see the site of the famous festival. “I believed by that point he was the love of my life,” the Oscar-winning actress told People. “Maybe that’s because I am deeply romantic, or I’m an actress, or I have strong faith as well, but I just believed, ‘Oh, OK, here he is.’”
The next year, the New Zealand-born, Australia-raised country singer and the Golden Globe winner star married in Sydney, Australia. In attendance were Russell Crowe, Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann, and Kidman’s best friend Naomi Watts. Hugh Jackman and Crowded House vocalist Neil Finn performed, as well as Keith himself.
Keith Battles Addiction
But within months, the lovebirds encountered an obstacle. Urban was battling a substance abuse problem, and The Undoing star staged an intervention. That year, the musician sought treatment and spent three months in a rehab center. “I caused the implosion of my fresh marriage,” the Grammy winner later confessed in an interview with Rolling Stone. “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.”
So where are Keith Urban and his wife Nicole Kidman now? Despite tabloid rumors that the marriage was falling apart, Kidman and Urban stuck together. The two are weathering out the COVID-19 pandemic in their home in Nashville, Tennessee. They live with their two daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret. Last New Year’s Eve, they shared a super cute duet on Instagram, singing Uban’s original song “I’ll Be Your Santa Tonight”.
Editors Note: This article was originally published on March 2, 2021.
