Dressed head to toe in couture and beaming in the middle of a group photo, there was no missing at the premiere of her latest TV project.
But even more obvious was how the 58-year-old actress was posing – namely with her co-star Simon Baker, 56, whose hand she was affectionately holding.
Predictably, coming fresh off the back of her split from , rumors of a romance started brewing, becoming ever more fevered when the pair talked openly about their chemistry.
But for one insider, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
For Kidman and Baker's flirty relationship has reportedly long been a 'standing joke' among friends – including his ex-wife, Rebecca Rigg.
'Simon, Rebecca and Nicole were great friends for decades,' the insider told the Daily Mail. 'Rebecca would always tease him that he liked Nicole better than he liked her. Simon used to flirt outrageously with Nicole. It didn't seem to bother Rebecca. It became a standing joke.'
Rumors of a romance started brewing when Nicole Kidman was pictured holding hands with her co-star Simon Baker at the New York premiere of their new Prime Video series, Scarpetta
The pair play husband and wife Kay Scarpetta and Benton Wesley, and have talked affectionately of one another during interviews
The insider recalled a Halloween party they all attended, where a scantily clad Rigg, now 58, joked that her husband would no doubt be more turned on by Kidman despite the fact she had swerved costumes altogether.
'Simon and Rebecca turned up at a Halloween party in the Hollywood Hills over 20 years ago with Nicole in tow. Rebecca was dressed as a dominatrix and Simon was holding a pair of handcuffs.
'Nicole didn't bother to dress up. But Rebecca said she had no doubt Simon was turned on by Nicole. Even though she was wearing an outrageously sexy get-up.'
The insider claimed that they 'all laughed about it because they were such good friends' but that at times they did wonder if 'Simon was infatuated with Nicole'.
Kidman and Baker became friends via his ex-wife Rigg, who 'hit it off immediately' with Kidman when they first met while auditioning for roles in Australia in their late teens. They both starred in separate episodes of Australian children's series Winners in 1985 before moving to the US in the 1990s to find fame.
So close remained the two women that Kidman was made godmother to Rigg and Baker's son, Harry, now 24. The couple also have son Claude, 27, and daughter Stella, 32, an actress who starred alongside her father in The Mentalist.
Rigg was there as Kidman weathered her acrimonious split from Tom Cruise in 2001, and later welcomed Urban into their fold, with the two couples hanging out whenever their work schedules allowed.
When Baker and Rigg split in 2020, Kidman remained friends with both.
Kidman and Baker's flirty relationship has reportedly long been a 'standing joke' among friends – including his ex-wife, Rebecca Rigg (pictured with Baker in May 2019)
'Simon used to flirt outrageously with Nicole,' an insider told the Daily Mail. 'It didn't seem to bother Rebecca. It became a standing joke' (Kidman and Baker pictured in 2010)
The insider added that there were times when they did wonder if 'Simon was infatuated with Nicole' (pictured together in 2013)
Kidman and Baker became friends via his ex-wife Rigg, who 'hit it off immediately' with Kidman when they first met while auditioning for roles in their late teens (pictured together with Naomi Watts at The Others premiere)
For his part, Keith Urban has been blasé about the noise surrounding his ex. 'Keith isn't paying much attention to the Simon rumors,' the insider said. 'If it can be avoided, it will be'
The speculation comes months after Urban's apparent closeness to fellow country singer Karley Scott Collins, 25, raised eyebrows. For her part, Collins shut down the 'absolutely RIDICULOUS and untrue' rumors on social media .
