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Nicole Kidman files for divorce from Keith Urban, citing 'irreconcilable differences'

Oscar-winning star Nicole Kidman and Grammy-winning country musician Keith Urban had been living apart for some time, according to US media reports.

Nicole Kidman (left) and Keith Urban sit next to each other, not talking and looking at their phones.

Australian actress Nicole Kidman (left) and musician Keith Urban met in 2005 at a Los Angeles event honouring Australians and were married in Sydney the following year. Source: AAP / AAPIMAGE

Nicole Kidman has filed for divorce from Keith Urban after 19 years of marriage, petitioning 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." 
Nicole Kidman (left) and Keith Urban stand together and smile. She has her hand around his neck.
Nicole Kidman (left) and Keith Urban have filed for a divorce after 19 years of marriage. Source: AAP / Bianca De Marchi
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 her portrayal of 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, which said they'd been living apart for some time.


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Source: AAP


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