Keith Urban breaks down onstage as he reveals how he once almost destroyed his marriage to Nicole Kidman: ‘Blew it to smithereens’

Keith Urban has stunned a large audience by publicly admitting how he once almost destroyed his marriage to Nicole Kidman.

The Australian country singer, 56, presented at the AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to Nicole Kidman, when he made the shocking confession.

The ceremony was a private event held in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 26, and was eventually televised earlier this week.

“We got married in 2006, and just four months after our wedding, addictions that I had actually done nothing about blew our marriage to smithereens,” he began.

Urban revealed that he was struggling with addiction when he first met Nicole and with her support, he was eventually able to get through it.

‘Married for four months, and I’m in rehab for three months with no idea what would happen to us.

‘Nic has endured every negative voice – I’m sure even her own – and she has chosen love.

“And here we are tonight, 18 years later. Her ability to love is like no one I have ever met.”

As she listened to her husband’s emotional speech, Kidman was seen in the audience wiping a tear from her eyes as she took in his heartfelt words.

The father-of-two, who previously said he grew up with his father’s heavy drinking, previously said it took him “a long time to get sober” because he didn’t “recognize” his alcoholism.

Urban revealed that he was struggling with addiction when he first met Nicole and with her support, he was able to get through it. As she listened to her husband’s emotional speech, Kidman was seen in the audience wiping a tear from her eye as she took in his heartfelt words.

“I didn’t drink like my dad, so I compared everything to him,” he recalled in a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone. ‘But I have finally been able to make the right choice in my life, which I wish for my father [Robert Urban, who died in 2015,] would have made.’

Despite his history with substance abuse, Urban recently compared listening to Ariana Grande’s catchy new single, We Can’t Be Friends, to “audible heroin.”

The prank reportedly put off his wife, 56, as it “brought back a very dark time for them when they almost broke up.”

“Nicole would never ask him to delete a post, but she was disappointed,” an insider told Woman’s Day magazine.

Kidman and Urban married in June 2006 and share daughters Sunday Rose, 15, and 13-year-old Faith Margaret.

She also shares adopted daughter Isabella, 31, and son Connor, 29, with ex-husband Tom Cruise.

Kidman and Urban tied the knot in June 2006 and share daughters Sunday Rose, 15, and 13-year-old Faith Margaret.

In accepting the award, Kidman thanked all the directors she has worked with throughout her incredible career, including Stanley Kubrick, Jane Campion, Baz Luhrmann, Sofia Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos, Sydney Pollack and Lars von Trier.

She said: ‘It’s a privilege to make films. And glorious to have made films and television with these storytellers who gave me the opportunity to let loose and be free and play all these unconventional women.

“Thank you for making me better at my craft and for giving me a place, however temporary, in this world.”