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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s separation after nearly 20 years of marriage came as a shock to Hollywood — but not to his inner circle, a source tells PEOPLE.
The source says it “really hasn’t been a secret” that the Babygirl actress, 58, and the country star, 57, have “been living separately for a while now.”
“People close to Keith felt like the split was kind of inevitable,” the source adds.
Reps for Kidman and Urban did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
PEOPLE confirmed the couple’s separation on Monday, Sept. 29, just three months after their 19th wedding anniversary. Kidman and Urban married in 2006, and are parents to daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14.
They were last seen in public together in June at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup match between Los Angeles Football Club and Esperance de Tunis in Nashville.
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Days later, Kidman marked the pair’s June 25 anniversary with an Instagram post that featured a black-and-white shot of her cuddling up to her country singer husband.
“Happy Anniversary Baby ❤️ @KeithUrban,” she captioned the post.
The pair are coming off busy summers; Kidman recently wrapped filming Practical Magic 2 in London, while Urban has been on his High and Alive World Tour, and is next scheduled to play on Oct. 2 in Hershey, Penn.
A source told PEOPLE that the Oscar winner’s sister Antonia “has been a rock” amid the split.
“The entire Kidman family has come together to support one another,” the source said. “She didn’t want this. She has been fighting to save the marriage.”
The star previously opened up to PEOPLE in 2018 about her and Urban’s secret to making love last.
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“I think it’s knowing that you have to keep contributing to what we call the ‘us.’ You go, ‘Does this work for us?,’ “ she said. “When you make an us, it’s yours together — that’s what you create. Nobody else has that. It’s just between the two of you.”
Urban, meanwhile, praised Kidman in a sweet speech in April 2024, given as she was honored at the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala.
He shouted out her “heart and her spirit,” and said that meeting her felt like “meeting a real-life princess.”
“And despite all of that, I did manage to get her phone number on a tiny piece of paper,” he said. “I was scared. I was nervous to call her. I did, as you probably figured out, pluck up the courage to finally call her.”
