Keith Urban avoided talking about estranged wife Nicole Kidman during a pre-split interview with Ryan Seacrest earlier this year.
Shared via YouTube on July 23, Urban’s interview with Seacrest, 50, for the On Air With Ryan Seacrest radio show was recorded less than three months prior to Kidman, 58, filing to divorce the country music star, 57, on Monday, September 30.
Seacrest, who worked with Urban on American Idol from 2013 to 2016, brought Kidman into the pair’s conversation by gushing about her busy career. “Do people tell you your wife is in everything? Nicole Kidman is in everything,” Seacrest posed to Urban, who laughed out loud before seemingly making an attempt to deflect the question.
“Yeah, she’s almost as busy as you but not quite, very close though,” Urban said.
Seacrest pushed the topic, praising the Nine Perfect Strangers star for her screen work. “First of all, she makes the greatest choices. I was watching one of her series last night … she can get evil, diabolical,” Seacrest said.
The camera showed an expressionless Urban before returning focus to Seacrest who continued talking. Although Urban’s face was out of shot, an audible “Yeah” was heard from him.
“Is that something with your life, her life, and mapping it all out … that’s a job isn’t it?” Seacrest then asked, which sparked a slow nod from Urban before he agreed that, “It’s a job, yeah,” and shifted his gaze away from the camera.
One of Seacrest’s radio colleagues then added that Urban and Kidman were also faced with the responsibility of raising “teenagers, add that.” (Kidman and Urban are parents to two daughters, Sunday, 17, and Faith, 14. Kidman is also mother to Connor Cruise, 30, and Isabelle Cruise, 32, whom she shares with ex-husband Tom Cruise.)
It sparked a response from Urban: “Yes, exactly, no, life is in session,” he said.
In the interview’s final reference to Kidman, Seacrest commented on Urban’s dedication to his home life. “I think that people know that you do take great pride in, even though you’re busy making time, to have time with each other, which is why you’ve been together for what 19, 20 years, maybe more?” Seacrest said.
Urban responded, “Mm hmm, yep,” before the topic was dropped and Seacrest turned to how much he enjoyed working with the musician, who served as a judge on American Idol.
Us Weekly confirmed on Monday, September 29, that Urban and Kidman had separated after nearly two decades of marriage.
In Kidman’s divorce paperwork, filed the following day, the actress cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split. She also listed their date of separation as the same date of her filing.
The paperwork also showed that Kidman requested to be the “primary residential parent” of Sunday and Faith, with her spending 306 days with the girls while Urban was awarded 59. The filing was accompanied by a marital dissolution agreement that was signed by both herself and Urban.
News of the pair’s separation came months after the actress attended the Met Gala on her own. The former couple were last publicly seen together in Nashville on June 20 at a FIFA World Cup 2025 game. The outing came just five days before their 19th wedding anniversary.
