Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman shocked fans when HELLO! confirmed on Monday that they have ended their 19-year marriage. However, according to Keith, their relationship was touch-and-go from the beginning as he admitted he "blew" their marriage up just four months after they tied the knot in a clip that has since resurfaced following news of their split. Keith shared an emotional confession about the difficult start to their union while paying tribute to Nicole at the AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute last April.
Keith has been open about his sobriety following his drug and alcohol struggles, and he admitted to the star-studded room that addictions put a strain on their marriage until, with Nicole's help, he finally got sober. "We got married in 2006, and barely four months into our marriage, the addictions that I had done really nothing about blew our marriage to smithereens," he began.
"Four months into a marriage, and I'm in rehab for three months with no idea what was going to happen to us," he continued: "Nic pushed through every negative voice – I'm sure even some of her own – and she chose love. And here we are tonight, 18 years later. Her capacity to love is like no one I've ever met."
Nicole was overcome with emotion listening to his words and was seen wiping a tear from her eye. Keith had already been in rehab twice before the couple got married in June 2006, and after he relapsed again when they were newlyweds, Nicole staged an intervention. He told Rolling Stone in 2016: "I caused the implosion of my fresh marriage.
© Instagram
© Penske Media via Getty Images"It survived, but it's a miracle it did. I was spiritually awoken with her. I use the expression, 'I was born into her,' and that’s how I feel. And for the first time in my life, I could shake off the shackles of addiction." Opening up about the first few months of their marriage, Nicole told Vanity Fair in 2007: "I'm more than willing to walk it with him. The two of us are very committed to our relationship. But it was painful, deeply painful."
