Nicole & Keith Months apart!
Friends fear they’re about to announce the end of their marriage
They have always said they can’t bear to be away from one another, and earlier this year Nicole Kidman revealed she and husband Keith Urban have vowed not to spend more than five days apart.
“We fly all over the world to be together,” Nicole said as the pair were preparing to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary on June 25. “But not out of obligation, just because I like him.”
Now, in a shock turn of events, Woman’s Day can reveal it’s been an astounding 65 days since Nicole, 49, and Keith, 48, last publicly enjoyed each other’s company.
The couple have not been seen together in public since they were photographed in New York on August 13, nor have they appeared together on social media.
Nicole and Keith’s absence from each other’s lives has lead friends and astute fans to believe there is trouble in paradise, with many tipping the Aussie stars could be the next Hollywood couple to announce their split.
If they are on the brink of divorce, the actress and country singer will join a string of highprofile couples who have declared the end of their relationships in the past month – Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, as well as Nicole’s good friend Naomi Watts and her partner Liev Schreiber to start with.
“You have to wonder if there are fresh problems in their marriage, especially as they always make a big noise aboutout how they hate spending time apart,” a source close to the couple tells Woman’s Day.
“There have been plenty of opportunities for them to be together lately – and they certainly haven’t been rushing into each other’s arms.”
All by herself
Indeed, Nicole graced the red carpet alone on a number of occasions in the last few weeks, attending the Toronto Film Festival solo, and travelling to London on her own to promote her highly anticipated film Lion.
“Keith could easily have gone with her but chose not to,” our source explains. “He says he was too busy.”
With the premiere falling right when Keith had five days off from his American tour, his excuse doesn’t quite add up.
But Keith isn’t the only one failing to make an effort. Fans were shocked when he arrived in Australia on his own late last month, bringing the couple’s daughters Sunday, eight, and five-year-old Faith with him for his appearance at the Deni Ute Muster in country NSW, and at the NRL Grand Final in Nicole’s home town of Sydney.
Incredibly close to her mother Janelle, it’s rare for Nicole to pass up any opportunity to visit Australia, and given she was so close by – photographed in Beijing a day or two earlier to promote Omega Watches – her absence was even more peculiar.
“It’s almost as if they are taking each other for granted again now they have passed their 10th anniversary,” our source adds.
Normally affectionate
Nicole and Keith have never been the types to disguise their affection. The couple are renowned for PDAS, with their loved-up red-carpet displays even given an official title – the Kuzzle, or the Keithand-nicole nuzzle.
Normally reserved, Nicole has admitted she can’t hide
‘They always make a big noise about how they hate being apart’
the way she feels for Keith. “I’m not a peacock, it’s not in my nature,” she has said. “People get frustrated with me because you’re meant to be, but I’m just not.”
Those public displays with Keith were times she couldn’t help but put her love on show.
Now friends are worried their lack of contact could be a sign herr feelings, and his, have changed.
Nicole and Keith, who live together with their girls in Nashville, have weathered their fair share of marital problems over the years.
Right time?
A reformed drug addict, Keith relapsed right after the pair were married in 2006, and spent time in rehab. Nicole has struggled to maintain a relationship with the adopted children she shares with her ex-husband Tom Cruise – Bella, 23, and Connor, 21 – and there have also been countless rumours of infidelity on Keith’s part.
If the couple are about to announce their split, it’s thought they’ll do so soon, taking advantage of the continued attention on the Jolie-pitts’ custody battle, and in the hope that they will be given privacy as they start their new lives.