Nicole Kidman, Ariana Grande interview has unexpectedly given fans insight into Keith Urban marriage breakdown

Nicole Kidman has offered the first real glimpse into how she is coping after the collapse of her 18-year marriage to Keith Urban, and her understated answer says more than any statement could.

In a new Interview Magazine profile on Ariana Grande, Kidman briefly slips out from behind the interviewer’s role when Grande asks how she is.

Kidman replies simply, “I’m hanging in there”.

It’s the clearest signal yet of the emotional toll following the couple’s shock split, finalised just weeks after reports emerged they had quietly separated months earlier.

The exchange took place over Zoom, with Kidman dialling in from Nashville, the city where she and Urban raised daughters Sunday and Faith, and Grande speaking from New York. Despite the upheaval, Kidman’s affection for Wicked is undimmed. She recalled seeing the first film with her girls, booking an entire row at a Nashville cinema.

“When I saw Wicked with my girls, we actually booked out the whole row here in Nashville and it was just crazy,” she said.

“People were cheering, and it was just really, really fun. So that was exciting, right? For that to take off.”

Kidman also touched on returning to witchcraft, onscreen at least, for the sequel to Practical Magic. Filming wrapped in London between July and September, just before her separation from Urban became public.

She admitted the timing could have been devastating, but instead, she said the woman-led cast shielded her.

“Sandy Bullock and I, and then Joey King and Maisie (Williams)– we had an incredible cast. A lot of times I don’t have fun when I’m filming... But I have such a strong relationship with all those women, so I felt protected and loved.

“It was just very, very safe.”

Kidman and Grande also bonded over their favourite form of self-care, which was ending the night in the bath.

“That’s my sanctuary. I love talking on the phone (in the bath),” Kidman said.

Court filings later confirmed the Lioness star has filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences” and was named the primary parent of the couple’s teenage daughters.

The revelation stunned fans, but sources have since said the pair had been living separately for months and that Urban was the one who walked away.

Kidman has maintained a public presence since, appearing at events in Dallas and Paris — even debuting freshly cut “break-up bangs” backstage at Fashion Week.