In September last year, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban shocked the world when they announced their divorce after almost 20 years of marriage.
Citing ‘irreconcilable differences,’ it was later revealed that, despite Nicole filing, Keith sought the separation.
Outlets reported that the Oscar winner was taking care of their daughters and ‘holding the family together’ through the ‘difficult time.’
However, six months on from the split, it seems the pair are moving on, with Nicole, 58, now sparking dating rumours with fellow Aussie Simon Baker.
So, what’s going on? Here, we take a look at everything we know about the hearsay so far.
Who is Simon Baker?
Simon Baker, 56, is an Australian actor and director.
He’s been in everything from Home and Away to The Devil Wears Prada, and earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his role in the drama series The Mentalist.
Simon married Australian actress Rebecca Rigg in 1998, after five years of living together, but they separated in 2020.
They share three children: a daughter and two sons.
Why have Nicole Kidman and Simon Barker sparked dating rumours?
Nicole and Simon both star in the new Amazon Prime crime drama Scarpetta, in which the Babygirl actor portrays the leading role.
During the show’s New York premiere on March 3, the pair — who play husband and wife — were seen holding hands on the red carpet. Later, they were photographed heading into the after-party together.
Nicole also previously revealed that she had recommended Simon for the show, telling the Daily Telegraph that they go way back.
She said: ‘We have known each other for a huge portion of our lives. I’ve always wanted to do something substantial with Simon.
‘And so, it was me going, “would you please, please, do this with me?” And he was at a time in his life when he could make decisions to be away from home and do things that took his fancy, and so it was kind of kismet. He said yes to me.’
However, it seems Nicole and Simon’s closeness is more likely to be platonic than romantic.
Nicole is the godmother to Simon and Rebecca’s son, Harry. Plus, when talking about their characters in Scarpetta, Simon described kissing Nicole as ‘kind of strange’ due to their long-time friendship.
Speaking to Woman’s Day, he explained: ‘I think any awkwardness about the friendship is quickly pushed aside. That’s the great thing about our job. We don’t spend time over-analysing things — we just get on with it, throw everything into the pot and see what we can make of it.’
On the kiss being ‘strange,’ he added: ‘I think the first time we did it, we both sort of went, “OK, whatever.’”
Nicole then revealed that they’ve ‘kissed on the cheek’ before, ‘hugged a lot,’ and even lived in the same house. ‘The woman I grew up with, he was married to for a substantial part of his life, 29 years, so we are just the same person,’ she continued.
Has there been any response?
Simon’s ex, Rebecca, is reportedly ‘shocked and confused’ by the rumours.
Being a childhood friend of Nicole, and growing up in Sydney, an insider told New Idea magazine that Rebecca loves her ‘like a sister.’
‘They’ve been through so much over the years so it’s extremely shocking for her to get her head around this,’ they said.
The source continued, claiming that Rebecca has been left ‘totally in the dark about Nicole and Simon’s current status.’
When referencing the Scarpetta premiere, they added that ‘a lot of their mutual friends assume their hand-holding was a cheesy stunt for the show.’
However, because Nicole and Simon are reportedly ‘evading questions about their status’ and ‘spending all this cosy time together,’ it’s giving the rumours ‘a lot more validity to the notion that they have turned romantic.’
The insider concluded that, even though Simon and Rebecca split ‘many years ago,’ they’re on good terms. ‘They’re still co-raising their kids and pride themselves on having a totally transparent relationship.’