NEED TO KNOW
A contestant from The Road has spoken out about working with Keith Urban amid his split from Nicole Kidman.
On Friday, Oct. 24, Billie Jo Jones told the Daily Mail that while appearing on the reality show, which follows 12 country musicians as they hit the road with Urban, 57, she had no idea what was going on in his personal life.
“You wouldn’t even know that he was going through anything because he definitely pushed personal stuff aside and was business professional the entire time, which is what a true artist should be and should be doing,” she told the outlet.
Taylor Hill/WireImage
While Jones, 34, didn’t comment further on his split from the Big Little Lies actress, 58, she called working with the New Zealand-born musician “a dream come true.”
“He is one of those people that really wants the best for you and really pushes you to be your best self,” she told the Daily Mail.
Urban opened up about what it was like being away from his family, which includes two daughters he shares with Kidman, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret, who are now 17 and 14, during the series premiere of The Road on Sunday, Oct. 19.
Urban said it was “a calling” for him to be on tour.
“You’re going to do it or you’re not going to make it,” he said.
Urban added: “When you wake up on a tour bus at 3:30 a.m. and you’re sick as a dog, you’re in the middle of nowhere and you’ve got to play your fifth show later that night, and you haven’t slept, and you miss your friends, and you’re missing your family, and you’re completely lonely and miserable and sick — and you say to yourself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ The only answer can be: Because this is what I’m born to do.”
Jones told Urban she had a similar experience of being away from her family for “around 125 to 140 shows a year.”
“It’s something that you’ve got to want it more than anything in the world to put yourself through it because it is hard,” she said, adding: “It’s time away from home, away from my kiddos, but it’s definitely worth it in the end because I know God didn’t give me this voice to just sit at home with — he gave it to me to go and share with others.”
“It’s definitely a lot of hard work, a lot of determination, but it is so rewarding in the end,” Jones concluded.
PEOPLE confirmed on Sept. 29 that Urban and Kidman separated over the summer.
The Babygirl star filed for divorce on Sept. 30 after 19 years of marriage and cited irreconcilable differences and listed the former couple’s date of separation as the time of filing.
As a part of the divorce filing, Kidman requested that she be primary residential parent in the custody agreement.
A source told PEOPLE that the Practical Magic 2 star “has a great attitude and feels very grateful for her life.”
