Keith Urban praised Nicole Kidman for sticking by him during a tumultuous time in their marriage just one year before the pair called it quits.
Urban, 57, gave a heartfelt speech honoring his wife at the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala in April 2024, recalling how he caused problems in the relationship amid his addiction struggles after they tied the knot.
“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,” Urban revealed onstage in Los Angeles last year, per People. “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.”
He added, “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.”
Kidman, 58, who was AFI’s guest of honor that night, wept as Urban spoke. She and her husband brought their teen daughters, Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14, to the tribute.
“That’s the thing about Nic … she loves life,” Urban gushed at the time. “I’ve actually never met anyone who has such a passion for being alive. She knows the importance of expressing feelings, as well.”
He noted, “I wasn’t raised like this at all, so our girls are very lucky to be learning from you, baby. I’m learning to.”
A source confirmed to Us Weekly on Monday, September 29, that Urban and Nicole had separated after nearly 20 years of marriage. The couple’s romance began in 2005 when Urban caught Kidman’s eye during a gala in L.A.
They later wed in Sydney, Australia, one year after their initial encounter. They welcomed daughter Sunday Rose in 2008 and Faith via surrogate two years later. (Kidman, 58, is also mom to daughter Isabella and son Connor, whom she adopted with ex-husband Tom Cruise.)
The exes were last spotted smiling next to one another at a FIFA Club World Cup 2025 game in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 20. Kidman celebrated their anniversary via Instagram that same month.
The Oscar winner previously opened up about her partnership with Urban in an interview for the September 2021 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, revealing, “We’re always working through stuff, but it’s very much love-based, so there’s an enormous amount of give and take. I want him to have the best life he can have, and he responds the same way.”
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