People close to Keith Urban felt his split from Nicole Kidman was ‘inevitable’

Last night, TMZ and People Magazine confirmed that Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have separated and that Keith was the one to leave. Keith has reportedly purchased a separate home in Nashville. They’ve called Nashville their home and their base for well over a decade, but Nicole and Keith travel and work constantly. Apparently, Nicole and her daughters spent most of the summer in England as Nicole filmed Practical Magic 2. Keith was nowhere to be seen. From People Mag’s exclusive:

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s separation after nearly 20 years of marriage came as a shock to Hollywood — but not to his inner circle, a source tells PEOPLE. The source says it “really hasn’t been a secret” that the Babygirl actress, 58, and the country star, 57, have “been living separately for a while now.”

“People close to Keith felt like the split was kind of inevitable,” the source adds.

[From People]

Fascinating that the early reports are basically just “Keith left, he was over it, everyone knew he was over it.” People also noted that Keith and Nicole were last seen together in June in Nashville. I guess soon after that, Nicole decamped to England for yet another film. The Daily Mail also had some tea:

After the Daily Mail confirmed Monday that actress Kidman, 58, and country singer Urban, 57, have sensationally separated after 19 years of marriage and two children together, sources suggest it was a lack of intimacy — as well as their busy schedules — that ultimately led to the split.

‘Keith never sees Nicole, either she is filming or he is on tour,’ one source tells the Daily Mail. ‘There was a lot of love between the two and they might not divorce. They been together for decades so there is a world which they can reconcile, but the way their pairing is now, they are not a couple.’

It is understood that Urban was the one to instigate the split, with his ‘unhappiness’ in the marriage prompting him to ‘call her out’. Kidman was ‘blindsided’ by her husband’s intervention, the source said. Urban’s main complaint appears to have been a growing coldness between the couple.

‘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.’

[From The Daily Mail]

These sources make it sound like the marriage could be rescued, that the separation might not be permanent. I don’t know… everyone else from Urban’s camp really makes it sound like he’s done-done. Then again, no one has filed for divorce and no one has gotten the lawyers involved. The summer apart sounds like a trial separation, and now they’re trying to figure out if any of this is worth saving.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.