When Nicole Kidman walked the red carpet solo at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards, it was in so many ways a sign of things to come.
Not only was the Oscar winner, 58, basking in the limelight without her husband Keith – although they later reunited inside the ceremony – but her whole look sent a clear message: ‘I’ve still got it’.
Wearing a backless silver gown and her hair swept high into a voluminous ponytail, her face impeccably smooth, this was a clear signal that Nicole has no intention of adopting the understated glamour of fellow stars of a similar age like Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts or her Big Little Lies co-star Laura Dern.
And this has extended to her career choices too, with the Australian actress taking on the raciest roles of her life in recent years – most notably the erotic thriller Babygirl.
So perhaps, then, it’s no surprise that Nicole and musician Keith Urban, 57, are living separately
But while things may have taken a turn in her romantic life of late, the past 12 months have been noticeable impressive career-wise for Nicole, with the star taking on a huge amount of new and racy roles and wowing with age-defying red carpet appearances.
Most recently she starred in Babygirl alongside Harris Dickinson who played her intern as they pair embark on a forbidden and passionate affair which included Nicole’s character taking on a submissive role.
Other racy roles featuring sex scenes included her part A Family Affair alongside heartthrob Zac Efron.
Sources close to the star even admitted last year they were scared she’d suffer ‘burnout’ from her jam-packed schedule.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s split this week was preceded by the star’s age-defying glow-up and VERY racy career resurgence
Most recently she starred in Babygirl (seen) alongside Harris Dickinson who played her intern as they pair embark on a forbidden and passionate affair
The Oscar winner, 58, and the musician, 57, are living separately, with an insider saying Nicole was left ‘blindsided’ by the split
In 2024 she also starred in Netflix‘s murder mystery The Perfect Couple, season two of Lioness and did voice acting in the animated musical/fantasy film Spellbound.
In a hint that not all was well in her marriage to Keith, in July he sensationally hung up on a radio station after a crude question about his wife’s sexy film scenes.
Her increasingly daring and prolific roles were accompanied by a series of dazzling red carpet premieres where she showcased her youthful complexion and style.
While the star has continuously denied undergoing any surgery, she instead credits healthy lifestyle choices as they secret behind her tight, youthful complexion.
‘To be honest, I am completely natural’, she told Marie Claire in 2007.
Aside from shocking fans with her smooth, wrinkle-free appearance, Nicole has pulled off many hairstyles to make her look years younger in recent months and years.
She has also been regularly wearing wigs on the red carpet to make her red tresses more voluminous.
Despite denying cosmetic surgery rumours, Nicole isn’t shy from experimenting with minor ‘tweakments’ here and there as she previously admitting to getting Botox.
In a hint that not all was well in her marriage to Keith, in July he sensationally hung up on a radio station after a crude question about his wife’s sexy film scenes in Babygirl
Picture in a racy scene for Babygirl
Her increasingly daring and prolific roles were accompanied by a series of dazzling red carpet premieres where she showcased her youthful complexion and style (seen last week)
She dazzled at the Golden Globes in January where she showed off her youthful looks
While the star has continuously denied undergoing any surgery, she instead credits healthy lifestyle choices as they secret behind her tight, youthful complexion (seen in July)
But she soon realised it wasn’t for her and quickly got it dissolved, she told German magazine TV Movie in 2011.
She said: ‘I’ve tried a lot of things, but aside from sports and good nutrition, most things don’t make a difference.
‘I even tried Botox but I didn’t like how my face looked afterwards. Now I don’t use it any more and I can move my forehead again.’
After the star credited a healthy lifestyle as the secret to her looks, she said: ‘I wear sunscreen and I don’t smoke. I take care of myself. I’m very proud to say that.’
Amid her busy schedule and constant glamorous appearances, last year sources said they were worried Nicole would suffer burnout – especially after the loss of her mother.
‘Nicole is still looking as amazing as always but she’s been through so much, and she seems to be dealing with her grief by throwing herself into work,’ a source told Woman’s Day magazine.
‘There are times when she sleeps on a plane more than a bed. Everyone’s worried about her.’
Seen with Harris in Babygirl
Seen in May this year
A few months before Nicole reflected on her jam-packed working life and told how she finds it difficult to take a break away from the cameras and simply take time for herself.
‘It’s very hard for me to go, ”Okay, I’m just going to take care of myself,” because I’m so much about taking care of other people,’ she told Variety.
‘I’m thinking, ”I can create more work for people. I can create jobs for people.” And also, I love it. I have the passion.
‘I’ve just got to take care of my body. I wish I had superpowers because I would love to be everywhere.’
As her busy schedule coincided with much more racy roles, particularly with Babygirl,.
Keith hinted all was not well between the pair when he sensationally hung up on a radio station after a crude question about his wife’s raunchy film scenes.
However previously it was reported that Keith was unfazed by Nicole’s steamy onscreen encounters as he had learned to separate his wife from the character on screen.
‘When Keith is watching her work, he sees it as her art,’ a source told DailyMail.com in October 2024.
‘She is playing characters – she isn’t playing Nicole Kidman. Keith isn’t wincing during these types of scenes, he knows it is just part of the story.
‘He removes himself from seeing her as his wife and supports her and enjoys the work.’
The insider claimed Keith ‘doesn’t want to know’ any script details aside from her ‘schedule’ so he can ‘figure out when they see each other and their kids.’
After the Daily Mail confirmed the split, sources suggested it was a lack of intimacy – as well as their busy schedules – that ultimately caused things to break down.
‘Keith never sees Nicole, either she is filming or he is on tour,’ one source told the Daily Mail.
‘There was a lot of love between the two and they might not divorce. They been together for decades so there is a world which they can reconcile, but the way their pairing is now, they are not a couple.’
It is understood that Urban was the one to instigate the split, with his ‘unhappiness’ in the marriage prompting him to ‘call her out’. Kidman was ‘blindsided’ by her husband’s intervention, the source said.
Urban’s main complaint appears to have been a growing coldness between the couple.
‘The intimacy isn’t there, they are just going through the motions [of being married]. If this separation gets them back together, that would be amazing, but Keith had to call her out that he isn’t happy,’ the source continued.
‘She was blindsided, but we shall see how things go during the holiday season and his upcoming birthday [next month]. They have some work to do.’
The Daily Mail reached out to representatives for the pair who have been unavailable for comment.
Kidman and Urban share daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14.
Another source close to the Australian actress says that, since the split, she has been taking care of the children and holding the family together through this difficult time while Urban has been away.
The country star has been on his High and Alive World Tour since May. He is due to perform in Hershey, Pennsylvania on Thursday.
Kidman and the children, meanwhile, are staying in Nashville, where the couple own a $4million compound. TMZ reported Monday that Urban has ‘acquired his own residence in Nashville and has moved out of their family home.’
Over the summer, the actress decamped to England while she filmed the sequel to her 1998 movie Practical Magic. She was paying a reported £65,000 ($87,000) each month to rent a luxurious Hampstead mansion once owned by pop star Boy George.
Seen with Keith in happier times back in January
The pair wed back in 2006 during a traditional Catholic ceremony at the Cardinal Cerretti Chapel in her hometown of Sydney
While the London move was for work, it certainly raised eyebrows back in Kidman’s native Australia.
‘[Kidman and Urban] do make an effort to speak every day when they’re apart, but it is shocking how much time they’ve spent apart since Nicole’s mother died last September,’ an insider told local magazine Woman’s Day earlier this month. ‘It’s like they both went their separate ways.’
Back in July, Urban dropped a hint that all was not well between the pair when he dramatically hung up during a phone interview with a radio station after a crude question about Kidman’s raunchy recent scenes, such as in her movies Babygirl and A Family Affair.
For her part, and while promoting her Netflix series The Perfect Couple in September last year, Kidman admitted there was no such thing as a ‘perfect’ marriage.
‘There’s no perfect anything,’ she said, ‘anything that’s presented as perfect… forget it.’
Kidman was previously married to actor Tom Cruise for 11 years from 1990 to 2001. They adopted two children together.
