She’s no stranger to eyebrow-raising sex scenes, having stripped off for her breakout role in 1989’s Dead Calm. 

Recently, Nicole Kidman’s provocative roles have significantly ramped up, particularly with the release of two sensational films and a sultry series last year: A Family Affair, Babygirl, and The Perfect Couple.

This week, it was revealed that the actress, 58, was splitting from husband Keith Urban, 57, after 19 years of marriage. 

Their hectic work commitments and a deficiency in closeness were rumored to be the causes of their separation, with reports indicating that Nicole was caught off guard when Keith requested a divorce.

However, indications of tension surfaced in their relationship this July when Keith suddenly terminated an interview after being questioned about Nicole’s recent intimate scenes, suggesting he might have been finding this part of her career challenging.

This interview took place months following the debut of her most daring movie to date, the erotic thriller Babygirl, where she portrayed a powerful CEO engaging in a passionate affair with Harris Dickinson, 29, in Babygirl.

The role required Nicole to embark in several steamy scenes with her younger co-star Harris, with the actress describing the process as ‘liberating’. 

However, Keith was said to have a different take on seeing her romp on-screen, having to take a step back from seeing her as his wife while she was filming racy scenes with other men. 

A source told Daily Mail last year: ‘He removes himself from seeing her as his wife and supports her and enjoys the work.’

The insider added: ‘When Keith is watching her work, he sees it as her art. She is playing characters – she isn’t playing Nicole Kidman.’ 

‘Keith isn’t wincing during these types of scenes, he knows it is just part of the story.

While Nicole received critical acclaim for the role, her husband did not attend any of the premieres with her – instead remaining in Australia for work. 

Her role in the film also had another meaning for Keith – who used to affectionately call Nicole ‘babygirl’ before she took on the racy role. 

Nicole revealed last year: ‘He actually has “babygirl” tattooed on the back of his neck. Keith’s not allowed to call anyone else babygirl. 

‘But now, because of the film, it’s taken on a different meaning. So he’s like, “No, I still have total rights over babygirl!”‘ 

Babygirl was the latest in a long line of racy roles taken on by Nicole, who had just starred in sizzling rom-com A Family Affair alongside Zac Efron, 37.

The pair were reunited in the Netflix flick, having first portrayed lovers 12 years ago in the buzzy crime drama The Paperboy.

She also stunned fans with her racy sex scene with Liev Schreiber, 57, in Netflix’s mystery drama The Perfect Couple.

During promo for the series she admitted there was no such thing as a ‘perfect’ marriage, stating: ‘There’s no perfect anything. Anything that’s presented as perfect… forget it.’

When asked what she thought of her marriage with Keith being presented as ‘perfect’ in the press, she responded: ‘I don’t see any of that. No, I don’t see that’.

It should be noted, however, that when Nicole and Keith tied the knot in 2006, the Australian actress had already earned a reputation for her racy scenes. 

In fact, it was stripping off for a racy encounter with Billy Zane in 1989’s Dead Calm that’s been credited with putting her on the map.  

She famously romped with then-husband Tom Cruise in 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut and was seen getting frisky with Matt Dillon in 1995’s To Die For. 

Yet Nicole then seemed to take a break from her racier roles in the Noughties, earning consecutive Oscar nominations for Moulin Rouge! and The Hours, before taking on box office smashes such as The Others, Australia and The Golden Compass.

However, in 2012 – six years into her marriage with Keith and two years after she’d welcomed their second child – she made a return to raunchiness with 2012’s The Paperboy, in which she romped – and even urinated on – younger co-star Zac. 

That same year, she also starred alongside Clive Owen in Hemingway & Gellhorn a film about the real-life relationship between American author Ernest Hemingway and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn.

The movie featured surprisingly explicit sex scenes with the actors stripping off for a two minute long encounter in which they had passionate sex as bombs exploded outside their window.

She went on to take on a number of more erotic roles, including 2017’s The Killing Of A Sacred Dear and Big Little Lies. 

Cracks in her marriage with Keith were highlighted two months ago when the country music singer stormed out of an interview after being questioned about her sex scenes. 

Keith called into the Mix102.3 Adelaide radio show Hayley & Max in the Morning in Australia on July 1 to promote a series of upcoming shows.

The interview began innocuously enough with Keith saying he always enjoyed playing in Adelaide, yet things quickly got uncomfortable when the singer took part in a radio game titled Wall of Truth.

Keith was quizzed about his wife appearing in ‘love scenes’ causing him to abruptly quit the interviews he was doing via Zoom.

‘What does Keith Urban think when he sees his beautiful wife with beautiful younger men like Zac Efron, having these beautiful love scenes?’ host Max Burford asked.

Keith did not reply and it was revealed he had gone.

‘I think his team hung up on us because they didn’t want us to ask that question,’ a program producer was heard explaining.

Does Keith Urban hate us? Do we have beef with Keith Urban?’ Max asked, to which co-host Hayley Pearson said: ‘He hates us – I knew that was going to happen.’ 

She added that she thought the line of questioning might have been too direct, musing: ‘I’ve had this feeling… that they don’t like these personal questions at all.

‘He doesn’t like the personal stuff… he doesn’t like talking about his wife… it’s private.’

An insider later insisted that Keith had nothing to do with the disconnection and that he ‘did not hang up, period.’

They added: ‘He doesn’t host his Zoom interviews. This is a complete nothingburger.’

However, it was the latest in a series of signs that there was trouble in paradise, including a strained last appearance together, the actress’ dramatic weight loss and a shock move she made in Europe.

Notably, the couple looked distant during their final outing together before news of their split emerged. 

The pair attended the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 football match between US Los Angeles FC and Tunis’ Esperance Sportive de Tunis back in June – but they put on a frosty display as they watched the match from the stands.

The following month Nicole attended the Wimbledon 2025 Championships’ final day without her husband. 

The superstar was instead seated alongside Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour at the Royal Box in Centre Court.

Keith was still travelling the US with his High And Alive World Tour at the time. 

They have spent much time apart in recent months, with Keith kickstarting his tour in May. 

As he was travelling up and down the States, Nicole and their daughters Sunday, 17, and Faith, 14, had been staying in Nashville, where the couple own a $4million compound. 

TMZ reported Monday that Keith has ‘acquired his own residence in Nashville and has moved out of their family home.’ 

Earlier this month, it emerged that Nicole was spending a small fortune each month to live in a stately London home away from Keith. 

The actress was in England to film the Practical Magic sequel, and was residing at a luxurious Hampstead mansion once owned by pop star Boy George.

While the London move was for work, it certainly raised eyebrows back in Nicole’s native Australia.

‘[Kidman and Urban] do make an effort to speak every day when they’re apart, but it is shocking how much time they’ve spent apart since Nicole’s mother died last September,’ an insider told local magazine Woman’s Day earlier this month. 

‘It’s like they both went their separate ways.’

Sources then suggested it was a lack of intimacy that ultimately led to the split.

‘The intimacy isn’t there, they are just going through the motions [of being married]. If this separation gets them back together, that would be amazing, but Keith had to call her out that he isn’t happy,’ the source continued.

‘She was blindsided, but we shall see how things go during the holiday season and his upcoming birthday [next month]. They have some work to do.’