In the wake of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban‘s shocking separation, fans can’t help but look back at the exes’ nearly 20 years of marriage — which included dozens of red carpet appearances together and many loving speeches about their romance — making their split all the more unexpected.
While the A-list pair — who share daughtersSunday Rose, 17, and Faith, 14 — have been open about their love for each other over the years, Urban got candid about the rocky start to their marriage while honoring Kidman at the 49th AFI Achievement Award Gala last year.
Speaking about his past substance abuse — the 57-year-old country star had problems with alcoholism and cocaine in the ’90s and early 2000s — Urban revealed how his addictions nearly wrecked his marriage to Kidman back when they wed in 2006.
“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.”
“Four months into a marriage, I’m in rehab for three months. I had no idea what was going to happen to us,” Urban said at the gala, per People, before praising Kidman. “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. And here we are tonight, 18 years later.”
Just a little over one year since Urban’s moving speech, the couple are now estranged — and reportedly living apart.
Inside Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s Lives Amid Their Split
TMZ was first to report the news of the longtime couple’s separation, which allegedly began several months ago. On Monday, September 29, a source told that the Oscar winner, 58, has been “holding the family together through this difficult time since Keith has been gone.”
As to where Urban went, the TMZ insider claimed that “Keith has acquired his own residence in Nashville and has moved out of their family home.”
Per People, the separation was Urban’s idea.
“[Nicole] didn’t want this,” their source said. “She has been fighting to save the marriage.”
Kidman was previously married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001. The exes share 32-year-old daughter Bella and 30-year-old son Connor.
