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Keith Urban opened up the moment he nearly failed his marriage Nicole Kidman in pieces.
Kidman, 57, was honored with the 49th AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in Hollywood as her husband took the stage to pay a passionate tribute to his wife.
WATCH ABOVE: Keith Urban on the moment his marriage to Nicole Kidman fell apart.
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While most of the evening was dedicated to the long and stellar career of the Australian actress in movie and televisionUrban’s tribute was deeply personal.
“We got married in June 2006 and only four months into our marriage my addictions, which I had done nothing about, blew our marriage apart,” revealed the 56-year-old musician, who had a long battle with drug and alcohol addiction. .
“I went to (the rehab clinic) The Betty Ford Center for three months — four months after the marriage,” he continued, as the cameras panned to Kidman to show her crying.
“I had no idea what was going to happen to us.
“And if you want to see what love really looks like in action, try it.
“Nick pushed through every negative voice, I’m sure even some of her own, and she chose love.
“Here we are tonight, 18 years later.
“That’s the thing about Nick – she loves life.
“In fact, I’ve never met anyone who has such a passion to be alive.
“She also knows the importance of expressing feelings.
“I wasn’t raised that way at all, so our girls are very happy to learn from you, dear.
“I’m learning too.”
“We met in January 2005; we were honored at this event called G’Day LA, which sounds a bit like a pickup from Crocodile Dundee,” he joked.
“We spoke very briefly and I was trying to keep it cool.
“But inside I felt like I’d snuck into the royal ball, just because Nick had this really otherworldly aura about him and I felt like I was meeting a real princess.
“Despite all that, I managed to find her phone number on a small piece of paper and have been carrying it in my pocket for over a week.”
Urban said he kept pulling the slip, looking at it and putting it back in his pocket.
“I was scared,” he admitted.
“I was nervous to call her, and although I was prone to all sorts of delusions at the time, even I could not stretch it to think that this extraordinary woman would ever see anything in a man like me.
“And it’s not that I’m humble, that’s literally how I saw myself and how I saw her.”
Eventually he plucked up the courage to call – and they chatted like they’d known each other forever.
“It turned out that this mystical creature was actually just a wide-eyed, vivacious, giddy girl from the suburbs of Sydney, and although she was born in Honolulu, she was Australian through and through.”
Urban went on to describe Kidman as “a spiritual being who has a human experience.”
“It’s Nick to a T,” he said.
“Gemini with duality to prove it.
“She’s tough, but she’s tough.
“She’s serious and a complete fool.
“But she also has a certain mantra, and that is, ‘Choose love.’
“I’ve watched her do this many times, navigating the emotionally complex things she’s been through with so many people.
“She always chooses that phrase, she lives by it.
“She has the ability to love like no one else I’ve ever met and I know tonight is all about her work so far, but next year will be 20 years since I’ve been madly in love with you.
“Congratulations baby girl.
“I love you.”
When footage of Urban’s speech was posted on YouTube, viewers went wild.
“I so enjoyed this tribute to his wife and their relationship,” said one viewer.
“Well said.”
“This speech is full of love,” another remarked.
“Their love is so pure, genuine, rare and far beyond Hollywood standards,” said a third.
“It made me cry.
“Such beautiful love between them and their daughters.
“Congratulations, Nick. Well deserved.”
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