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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's split may have rocked the showbiz world but there were some clues that relations between them were less than harmonious.
While the Hollywood star, 58, and the Australian singer, 57, are known for their intense public displays of affection, often sharing longing glances and passionate embraces at events, this may not all add up to a happy marriage.
Body language expert Judi James suggested the heavy PDA is 'performative' and doesn't feel like authentic chemistry between the long-married couple.
This week Nicole filed for divorce from Keith after 19 years of marriage. But despite it being the actress who made the filing, it was reportedly Keith who initiated the split and he is rumoured to already be dating another woman.
Nicole was said to be 'blindsided' by the move, and Judi claims that this is also shown in the recent interactions between the former couple, as Nicole showed 'no signs that she wanted to cool the relationship', while Keith seemingly pulled away.
Key signs that there was trouble between them include a 'dance of doom' on the red carpet as Nicole 'demanded' he play into her united public display, as well as her 'mild threat' if he didn't deliver.
Expert Judi has had her say on the last few public appearances from the once-devoted couple over the past few years before their shock separation.
CMA AWARDS - MAY 2025
One of the last times Nicole and Keith were seen together before their split was at the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards just four months ago in May.
While to the untrained eye they may have looked as loved-up as ever, expert Judi claimed that they were showing signs of strain.
She told the Daily Mail: 'Nicole is always a fan of a brand of highly theatrical "performative passion", with her red carpet and public appearances with Keith riddled with overkill signals of ecstatic responses, often making them look more like a screen test for her next movie role than anything natural and authentic.
'But even overkill can speak of intent. Her poses here were unequivocally aimed at showing her and Keith as a loving, bonded couple with a very strong sexual attraction. She fan-girled Keith as he got this lifetime award and when he touched her she clung like a woman in the throes of bliss. There was no sense from her at least that she wanted to suggest any cooling whatsoever in the relationship.
'On the red carpet it seemed to be Keith keen to keep a large spatial distance in front of the cameras. Their hands were clasped but it's Nicole appearing to have to lure him close with a breadcrumb trail of signals of either allure or mild threat.
'He looks away coyly but she pins him with her eyes with the partial splay gesture of one hand on her hip making her appear demanding. As he steps in she performs a double hand clasp sending some coy, coaxing signals to her husband with a rather teenage-looking flirty shoulder shrug.
'Keith still appears reluctant in this little "dance of doom" so she places a dominant arm round his shoulders to create some signal of togetherness, leaning her head in and looking down to suggest this proximity and touch ritual has triggered a "bliss" response from her. Keith seems to spring away with what looks like relief when she's asked by the photographers to do solo poses.'
MET GALA - MAY 2024
A similar situation was noted a year before when they attended the 2024 Met Gala together and posed for photographers upon arrival at the prestigious event.
Judi says that Keith takes on the role of 'Prince Charming', allowing his wife to be the star of the show, while he takes on a more 'low profile' role by her side.
While she once again suggested that Nicole's behaviour was 'performative', she did say that Keith did look happy to play the part on this occasion.
This could hint that things between the couple were solid at the time and have only taken a nosedive in the months since the appearance.
Speaking about this appearance, Judi said: 'This hugely performative posing sees Keith well up the staircase in the role of a more low-profile Prince Charming, towing a very elegant Nicole by one hand at the end of a very extended arm.
'It's clear Nicole is the star of the show here with Keith possibly barely in some of their shots. He looks good-tempered though, grinning at her with a look of affection.'
AFI AWARDS - APRIL 2024
While their Met Gala appearance seemed amicable, a joint outing a month earlier hinted at a power struggle, according to Judi.
She said that 'beneath the Hollywood smiles' was a battle of dominance, as they struggled with whose hand would rest on top for their photo op.
Judi says: 'Nicole oozes Monroe-style glamour here in her gold dress and vintage poses, while Keith stands apart with just a hand hold as their togetherness tie-sign.
'Nicole's hand is on top and to the front here in a more dominant signal while she clutches Keith's fingers like a mom taking a kid to school.
'The couple seem to perform some kind of a hand battle beneath all the Hollywood smiles here.
'Nicole seems to pull Keith's hand in front of her lower pelvis which would have given a more sexual look to their pose but he looks at the hands and seems to pull his back, performing some odd-looking hand-wriggling to re-position their clasp with his hand on top, like a signal of re-instated control.
'They both look down to study the hands as though checking out what looked like a small power-battle between them.'
MET GALA - MAY 2023
Interestingly, their appearance at the Met Gala in 2023 was near-identical to the one the following year, according to our expert.
Keith takes on the Prince Charming position, before stepping aside to let Nicole shine in the spotlight as the bigger star of the pairing.
Judi says: 'Keith clearly got immersed in his "Prince Charming" role at this earlier Met Gala outing, where his positioning, poses and power signals seem to be identical to the following year.
'The distancing is here, plus the hand held out full-stretch and while Nicole blows kisses to the photographers he seems to perform some gentle but insistent-looking jerking movements as though egging her to move on.
'In the end he drops her hand to let her pose alone, again presumably witnessing how she is the greater and more in-demand star here.'
CMAs - NOVEMBER 2023
As far back as 2023, Judi claims there was a 'power struggle' present between the couple as they attended the CMAs, which is Keith's night as a country music star.
However, the struggle comes as Nicole is the globally-recognised star, so the photographers are just as keen - if not more so - to picture her.
Judi says: 'This scrabble for synchronicity sees the couple rather out of tune in terms of who is going to pose where. This is clearly Keith's night but for the photographers Nicole is the bigger star. There's some awkward shuffling that suggests no prior planning, with each ushering the other to pose alone.
'This looks polite but it also looks like an awkward power-shuffle. Nicole seems to try to point Keith to the solo spot but he's doing the same to her, leading to something of a shrug and a small eye-roll of exasperation from Nicole to the cameras.
'This posing "clumsiness" suggests some kind of emotional or intellectual lack of synchronicity. Nicole learned all about red carpet tie-signs from her choreographically impeccable first husband Tom Cruise, who would relay instructions via a series of small pats and touches to endure they worked the cameras as a seamless couple.
'Nicole and Keith seemed to have fallen out of step at these most recent outings though, with Nicole looking very determined to show a sense of passionate togetherness while Keith's body language suggests a coyer awkwardness or even reluctance.'
The former couple were last seen together at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 football match between US Los Angeles FC and Tunis' Esperance Sportive de Tunis in June.
The pair, who are no strangers to packing on the PDA in public, looked distant during the outing as they put on a frosty display while watching the match from the stands.
The couple are known for their intense public displays of affection at red carpet events and premieres, a world away from their recent sighting.
It was revealed earlier this week that Keith had moved out of their Nashville family home and into nearby accommodation, amid claims that he had grown unhappy at the 'lack of intimacy' in their marriage.
Insiders claimed that Nicole was 'shocked' by the move but within 24 hours she had filed for divorce, in Davidson County, Tennessee, citing 'irreconcilable differences'.
The latest allegation leaking out of the situation is that Keith has already moved on.
As a music industry source told the Daily Mail on Tuesday: 'The rumor is that he's with a younger woman in the business. It's all everyone is talking about.'
Even for those in the know, the details remain elusive.
One friend told the Daily Mail that Keith hasn't talked about whether he is 'dating anyone else'.
Regardless, the suggestion of another woman has no doubt been a humiliating blow for his estranged wife – now heading toward her second divorce. She split from her first husband Tom Cruise in 2001 after 11 years of marriage and two children.
For her part, Nicole has been devoted to Keith ever since they first met in 2005.
Despite Keith then ignoring her for four months, they eventually got together and swiftly married in June 2006.
Almost immediately there was trouble. In October 2006, Keith checked into a Palm Springs rehab for cocaine and alcohol addiction.
On Christmas Eve that year, a model named Amanda Wyatt claimed to have had an affair with him in the run-up to his wedding. He denied the allegation at the time.
Nicole remained entirely loyal and the couple went on to have daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14.
'If it turns out to be true that Keith is involved with another woman, it will feel like the biggest humiliation for Nic,' an insider told the Daily Mail.
'She does everything she can to keep herself looking young and in shape. Not only for screen roles but also for Keith. She used to ask him if she's still hot and, of course, he'd always tell her she was. But he seemed to be growing tired of her looking for reassurance.'
Nicole has been enjoying something of a resurgence in recent years.
With her porcelain, wrinkle-free skin, toned figure and ever-changing hairstyles, she has mastered the art of disguising her true age. She claims to have had no surgical or cosmetic interventions – bar a brief dabble in Botox before hating how she looked and having it dissolved.
She says her secret is meticulous sunscreen application, beauty supplements and a rigorous workout routine.
Recent raunchy roles – from bonkbuster Babygirl, to A Family Affair and steamy Netflix series The Perfect Couple – have come with a newfound feeling of liberation and confidence, friends say.
Though 'it's a sure bet her confidence levels have been severely shaken, especially if Keith has left her for another woman,' our insider added.
In a rather brutal move, Keith has apparently repurposed an old love song he wrote about Nicole to include the name of his 25-year-old guitarist Maggie Baugh.
At a recent concert, he switched up the original lyric from 'When they're tryna get to you, baby I'll be the fighter' to 'When they're tryna get to you, Maggie I'll be your guitar player.'
Maggie shared the video to Instagram on Sunday – 24 hours before news of the separation broke – and wrote: 'Did he just say that.'
With rumors of another woman ferociously circulating, fans have predictably jumped on Maggie, flooding her social media with claims she is a 'homewrecker'.
She has yet to address the speculation, so too has Keith, but aside from the lyric there is nothing to suggest Maggie is romantically involved with him – or that she is the reason for his divorce.
A friend of Keith's told the Daily Mail: 'He isn't talking about whether he's dating anyone else or going to date anyone else, but he's saying that he's going to be fine and not to worry about him getting self-destructive. He's OK.'
In other words, no need to worry about a relapse into addiction.
Keith's focus, the friend says, remains solely on co-parenting his daughters.
'Keith's the type who looks to escape his thoughts when things go sideways,' said the friend. 'I don't want him to look for it in a bottle. But he is saying he's fine, that everything's OK, but he's not going to elaborate any more than that.
'He's not going to boohoo to people about his failed marriage. He's worried about the kids and how they're going to cope being from a broken home, but he promises he's going to stay on the wagon for their sake. I'd like to believe that's the truth.'