It’s not unusual for couples to lose a bit of spark after many years together, which is why it’s so inspiring to see those who don’t.
Listen to any interview or clip wherein Nicole Kidman – who turns 52 today, by the way (Happy Birthday!) – and Keith Urban talk about each other, and you’ll see the obvious love present in their relationship.
The Aussie lovebirds have been married since 2006 and have two children, but things weren’t always so simple for this celebrity power couple.
On the contrary, in fact, Kidman and Urban got off to quite the uncertain start.
It might seem as though a love as evident as Kidman and Urban’s would have been without its hiccups, but the truth is that it almost didn’t even come to be. The pair ended up misreading all sorts of signals in the beginning, as Urban explained to Oprah.
“There was a split moment where she wasn’t with anybody and there was nobody around and I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll just go up and say hi.’ I plucked up the courage to go and do it very nervously and trying to be all cool,” he said.
“There was that moment of waiting for the next thing to be said, at which I didn’t know if I was bothering her or what was going on, so I just sort of said, ‘Well, nice to meet you’ and I walked away. She stood there for a moment and she walked away and then I thought, ‘Was I supposed to say more?’ A friend of mine said, ‘I think she wanted to talk to you. I went back over and apologized and we just started talking and just really clicked.”
Despite that, it still took months for Urban’s obvious fondness of his future wife to manifest itself in constructive action.
Kidman revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show: “I remember thinking, I had such a crush on him, and he wasn’t interested in me. It’s true! He didn’t call me for four months.”
Eventually, things clicked, and it appeared that the pair wouldn’t look back. Then, as has since been well detailed, they were forced to withstand a near-implosion.
Implosion
The pair took to the red carpet together for the first time at the 2006 Grammys, and would be married just four short months later. However, their relationship soon came under strain when Urban suffered a relapse. The singer had long fought against addictions with MDMA, cocaine and alcohol, and had checked into rehab twice. In October 2006, he checked in for a third time, undergoing three months’ worth of treatment.
He credits Kidman with having saved his life. “Meeting her and getting married wasn’t life-changing — it was life-beginning,” he told CBS News a decade later.
“I caused the implosion of my fresh marriage. 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.”
It’s not only Urban that has benefitted from their undeniable chemistry, though. Kidman spoke on Entertainment Tonight. about how Urban had been there for her when she was filming Big Little Lies, a film wherein she portrayed a victim of domestic violence.
“Luckily, I have a partner who is artistic so he understands what it takes to support that. I came home to loving arms, someone who would hold me, and I was really upset at times.”
Sharing their wins
As with all great marriages, another secret to their success is that they celebrate every triumph and victory together. The fact they can celebrate together makes this extra special, as evidenced by Kidman’s admission on The Late Late Show With Stephen Colbert in 2017.
“When I won my Oscar, I was not in a great place in my life. I didn’t have a partner to share it with,” she explained.
“I was flailing, emotionally and personally. So, to win and Emmy and be in love and have my family. There’s something incredible about going home and going, ‘Baby! We did it!’ And that’s what we did.”
The here and now
But the real secret behind their long-lasting happiness? They’re still smitten as they’ve ever been. Reportedly, the couple don’t spend more than a week apart from one another.
Urban, who apparently still writes Kidman love letters, told Vanity Fair: “We start to hurt after seven days.”
In Kidman’s words: “Just love. Just love each other, lavish each other with love. Also we just happen to like each other too. That works.”
Happy Birthday, Nicole Kidman, we’re inspired by your enduring love with Keith.
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