Keith Urban divorce row: How Nicole Kidman's 'best friend' Naomi Watts is helping the actor cope

Nicole Kidman filed for divorce from Keith Urban, citing irreconcilable differences. She seeks custody of their daughters after reports of a split since summer.

Nicole Kidman has filed for divorce from Keith Urban in Nashville, Tennessee. Court papers show the Oscar-winning actress cited “irreconcilable differences.” She listed the separation date as the day of filing, according to Daily Mail report.

Nicole Kidman has been speaking often with longtime friend Naomi Watts, as she files divorce from Keith Urban. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File, Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)

Kidman is asking to be the “primary residential parent” for their two daughters, Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14. The filing comes after reports that she and Urban had been living apart since early summer.

A source told Daily Mail that Kidman has been speaking often with longtime friend Naomi Watts. “Nic has been calling Naomi a ton to talk out how she needs to cope with the situation,” the source said. “There has been a lot of advice flowing, and Nic listens because Naomi has been through it herself.”

Watts, 57, had a public split from Heath Ledger in 2004 and later ended an 11-year relationship with Liev Schreiber in 2016. She now is married to actor Billy Crudup, with whom she tied the knot in 2023. “Naomi’s clever advice has been to be as honest as can be with the public and just get it out there and over with so fans can process and move on,” the insider added.

Sources close to the pair say Urban may already be seeing someone else. At a recent concert, he even altered a lyric once linked to Kidman, changing it to reference his 25-year-old guitar player, Maggie Baugh. “Nicole’s hurt and feels betrayed,” one insider told People. “It’s devastating to her. She’s shocked.”

Kidman and Watts have been close friends since the 1980s, meeting at an audition in Sydney and later appearing in the 1991 film *Flirting*. Last year, Watts called Kidman “the sister I’d never had” while speaking at the AFI Life Achievement Award Gala.