They used to say in the old cowboy films: ‘This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.’
But that’s not the case for divorcing couple Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, who have both put down deep roots in Nashville, Tennessee. Neither, it seems, wants to budge.
Singer-songwriter Urban lived there first – it’s the home of country music, after all – and actress Kidman moved in with him, then raised their two children Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith, 14, in a whopper of a house in a gated community called Northumberland.
Kidman has stayed put, while Urban moved into temporary digs ‘very nearby’. Since their split, both have been spotted – separately – at the same Whole Foods store in the suburb of Franklin Hills.
A local source tells me they still go to the same hairdresser, Ashley Wahler, in neighbouring city Franklin.
It’s not clear whether they both still attend the same church. But their children are continuing at the same school.
As per a custody agreement, signed by Urban in August, Nicole gets the girls for 306 days of the year; and he gets them for 59 – including Thanksgiving (which was yesterday).
Kidman filed for divorce in September, citing irreconcilable differences, and all matters seemed to be swiftly settled. Friends of Kidman confirm she isn’t upping sticks any time soon. In fact, next spring she starts filming a new series of Scarpetta – about pathologist Dr Kay Scarpetta, from Patricia Cornwell’s best-selling series of novels – in Nashville.
Nicole Kidman filed for divorce from Keith Urban in September
The first series has already been made and will be out on March 11 on Prime Video. This week the streamer released the first-look pictures of Kidman in the role. Jamie Lee Curtis plays Scarpetta’s sister, Dorothy.
Kidman and Urban were married in June 2006 and were last seen together this June.
Fans noticed that over the summer, on his High And Alive World Tour, Urban stopped mentioning his wife, having previously always name-checked his ‘babygirl’. When news of their divorce was made public, one source told People magazine: ‘Nicole’s hurt and feels betrayed. It’s devastating to her. She’s shocked.’
The insider also claimed the actress ‘didn’t want this and has been fighting to save the marriage’. The news website TMZ – which broke the story – went further. It quoted a Kidman source as saying: ‘All the signs point to the fact Keith is with another woman.’
Kidman’s team declined to comment on the rumours; as did Urban’s.
He has been linked with Maggie Baugh, a 25-year-old singer, guitarist and classically trained violinist who plays with his band. However, country singer Alexandra Kay nixed the gossip, saying: ‘I know that’s absolutely not true.
‘Honestly, I was heartbroken for them because the media scrutiny is insane and the things that people say. I’ve met her [Baugh’s] boyfriend. She’s very happy.’
Urban was also linked to singer-songwriter Karley Scott Collins, who was one of the opening acts on his tour.
The 25-year-old is signed to Sony Music in Nashville, and CAA in LA. ‘It’s amazing being on the road with Keith,’ she said earlier this year. ‘He’s an incredible entertainer, and I respect him so much.’
A photo posted on Instagram on July 16 shows them with their arms round each other, heads touching. ‘Somebody pinch me,’ Scott Collins wrote.
Frankly, my dear, this looks awfully familiar
Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable for the 1939 film Gone With The Wind and right, Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi for the upcoming Wuthering Heights film
Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights poster seems to have taken ‘inspiration’ from an iconic image of Vivien Leigh swooning in Clark Gable’s arms in 1939’s Gone With The Wind.
Fennell, who wrote Saltburn, is presenting her super-sexy take on the Bronte novel as she remembers discovering it aged 14.
But one non-believer sniffs that it will be ‘dumbed-down smut for the TikTok masses’. It’s out on Valentine’s Day next year.
Bye-bye Barbie Pink, hello Marty Orange
Timothee Chalamet will play 1950s table tennis Marty Mauser in Marty Supreme
Anticipation is building for Merchy, sorry, Marty Supreme. The ping-pong picture stars the phenomenally popular Timothee Chalamet, 29, as a sporting prodigy, and is loosely based on the stranger-than-fiction tale of 1950s table tennis champ and hustler Marty Reisman.
This week, Chalamet has been in New York helping to shift an entire clothing line – $250 wind-cheaters, $95 tracksuit trousers, t-shirts and more – emblazoned with ‘Marty Supreme’ and a logo which shows him running. Everything sold out on the night, and the wind-cheaters are now appearing on resale sites for more than $400. The gear was originally designed by Doni Nahmias for Chalamet to wear on the publicity trail.
The actor attended the opening of a pop-up shop, alongside a load of guys in orange ping-pong helmets, and apparently the intention is to claim that particular shade for marketing purposes …much as Barbie did with pink. As part of the hype, film-makers A24 also sent up a blimp (orange, of course). And Chalamet posted a very funny spoof Zoom meeting on his Instagram page. More stunts are expected in the run-up to its Christmas Day opening in the States. (It’s out here on Boxing Day.)
That’s a big thumbs-up from Ariana
Wicked: For Good star Jonathan Bailey says that the cast bonded on set to such an extent that his co-star Ariana Grande now carries a little piece of him wherever she goes.
Bailey, who plays Prince Fiyero who (spoiler alert!) is turned into Scarecrow in the sequel, said: ‘Ari’s got my thumb!
‘I was walking up and down and exploring the Scarecrow’s physicality, and I tripped over and my thumb split the prosthetic, and I hadn’t realised, but Ari just yoinked it, and she’s carrying it around wherever she goes.
‘She might wear it as an earring tomorrow. I don’t know.’
Dixie the American bulldog is one of the big stars of the film Dragonfly, which came out in cinemas earlier this month. The drama’s human cast includes Andrea Riseborough (pictured left, with Dixie), Brenda Blethyn and Jason Watkins.
Dixie the American bulldog and Andrea Riseborough in the film Dragonfly
She acts mostly alongside the Oscar-nominated Riseborough, who said the pooch was a delight from start to finish. ‘She’s adorable! I loved her so much and got very close to her. She arrived on set and was having the time of her life. Peanut butter was hidden everywhere; and there was chicken behind the fridge.’
Added Riseborough: ‘She loved everybody on set and we just had to wait for her to look scary.
‘The trouble is that the only time she looked scary was when she wasn’t thinking about peanut butter.’
If a tree falls on the Beckham’s drive, will someone make a lot of money?
A Lignum Vitae, or holywood, tree
The Beckhams have spent a fortune on upgrading and improving their property in the Cotswolds, inside and out, and now it looks as if they are repeating the process with their house in Florida.
It’s just over a year since they bought a nine-bedroom ‘modern masterpiece’ on the waterfront in Miami for $80million.
The house is the jewel in the crown of their property portfolio: worth more than their London and Cotswolds places put together.
And according to documents filed with the local authorities, the couple are set on planting an avenue of mature Lignum Vitae, or holywood trees, in front of the place.
The notoriously slow-growing trees, which are native to South Florida and the Caribbean, have beautiful, bright purple flowers in season. But they are also tough: resistant to drought and able to withstand the salt-water surges of storms and hurricanes.
The Beckhams have had to agree to install irrigation – and also to stump for $300,000 liability insurance, in case one of the trees topples over on to a passer-by.
The Miami house has a rooftop lounge, a spa with a massage room, a waterfront deck, and mooring for a yacht. Their neighbours include the pop star Shakira and Bee Gee Barry Gibb.
The family previously had a $20 million apartment in a Zaha Hadid-designed block in the city, where Sir David is the co-owner of Inter Miami football club, but are said to have fallen ‘instantly in love’ with the new-build house, which can be seen fleetingly in Lady Beckham’s Netflix documentary.
You only have to look at the celebrities, from Leonardo DiCaprio to Prince Harry, who have come to watch Inter Miami – and their star player Lionel Messi – to see that the Miami venture is paying off for Sir David.
The couple have a large circle of friends in the city, too. David is best buddies with singer Marc Anthony (formerly married to J Lo), who lives there and performed at Brooklyn’s wedding.
Victoria has hung out with Pharrell Williams and DJ Khaled downtown, and is on good terms with restaurateur David Grutman, his Brazilian model wife Isabela and her friend, the supermodel Gisele Bundchen.
It’s also a short hop to the Peltz family mansion in Palm Beach, where son Brooklyn got married in 2022, if they decide they want to visit the in-laws.
Celebrity columnist Jose Lambiet said of the Beckhams: ‘Every other South American singer or actor has a place in South Florida as well, and so it’s a melting pot of celebrities.
‘David is already part of the furniture here and I think people have a very positive view of both Beckhams. They’ve got a very nice family, they’re hard-working and self-made. These are the things that Americans like and respect.’
