Earlier this week Keith Urban and his ex-wife Nicole Kidman’s divorce was finalised with the details of their settlement, their parenting plan and a “behaviour” clause revealed.
Per their agreement, Nicole will keep the girls for 306 days of the year, with Keith given 59 days or “every other weekend” and the couple will “encourage each child to continue to love the other parent and be comfortable in both families”.
And while on paper the divorce looks to have been easy to hash out, behind the scenes insiders tell the Daily Mail that the one point of conflict has been the custody of their two teenage daughters.
“Keith was initially asking for equal time with their daughters” – a request that sent Nicole into a spiral, who feared “history might repeat itself” and she’d lose custody of her kids, like she did when she divorced husband Tom Cruise in 2001.
At the time, Tom and Nicole agreed to joint custody of their kids Isabella, now 32, and Connor, 30, but they ultimately decided to live primarily with their father and they became estranged. It’s believed Nicole still hopes to be reconciled.
CUSTODY BATTLE
“It took a lot of wearing down but Keith finally agreed to her terms,” an insider told Daily Mail. “Their daughters, are both in their teens and need their mother more than their father at these ages. Keith knew he’d never win the battle in court and finally backed down. That’s when the divorce was settled.”
Logistics also played a part with Keith due to be touring a lot – and it’s true that publicly at least Nicole has been seen out and about with her daughters a lot. The trio spent Christmas in Australia with her and celebrated Faith’s 15th birthday together on December 28th, while Keith hasn’t been seen in public with his daughters since the marriage broke down.After a sad and lonely Christmas without his girls, insiders say Keith Urban’s relationship with his daughters, especially Sunday Rose, is suffering.
“It wasn’t an easy Christmas for any of them, but there’s no doubt Sunday’s starting to come out of her shell since her dad left,” says an insider of the 17 year old daughter of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman.
“She feels liberated in so many ways now she doesn’t have to seek out her dad’s approval. And Keith was pretty strict with Sunday, much more than Faith. In fact it’s safe to say one of Nicole and Keith’s most frequent arguments was about keeping the girls safe versus their need for independence.
“Since the divorce, Sunday has struggled to connect with her dad. She’s upset with him and part of her wants to lash out at him for breaking up their perfect world. Their bond feels fragile at the moment.
“Keith was nervous about her trying modeling and was worried she’d receive criticism for being a nepo baby, which has made Sunday even more determined to do things her way,” adds the insider of Sunday who has just scored a gig with Dior.
As for rumours she’ll drop his name like Shiloh did to Brad Pitt – she’s already done it.
“She’s not yet filed the legal paperwork but her mum gave her the best showbiz name. Dropping her famous parents’ last names is her attempt to try and make it on her own and not anything Keith should take personally, but he will,” the insider says of Sunday Rose’s decision to change her Instagram handle to remove her surname Kidman-Urban.
