Nicole Kidman has revealed that her Oscar win in 2003 was a sad evening, because it drove home to her that she was lonely.

After a nomination in 2001 for Moulin Rouge, Nicole picked up the Best Actress trophy for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours.

She explained to Vanity Fair recently: “It felt big. It felt lonely and big. You’re in a hotel and you’re like, okay well, I’m sitting in this big suite with an Oscar, and I still don’t have a life. What is wrong with me?”

“It hit home that I needed to get a life. Who do I jump on the bed with, and celebrate with, and order pancakes with?”

“That was painful, not having that person to share it with. That’s why it was more for my mom and dad and my kids. But even the kids were young enough that they were like, ‘Oh, cool. Over. Move on. Not interested.’”

When she met Keith Urban in 2005, she recognised a kindred soul: “I think we were two lonely people. I would probably say that two very lonely people managed to meet at a time when they could open themselves to each other. We were a mixture of frightened and brave.”

The couple married in June 2006 and four months later, Keith checked into a treatment programme to deal with alcohol abuse.

Nicole added: “It was very painful, deeply painful [when he checked into rehab]. We were in a very, very, very bad, painful place, and have managed to step through it, and I hope that gives some people some hope who may be in the same place. And that’s enough said.”

“Anything else is overindulgent and unnecessary right now. And I think it jinxes it, in a way, and that’s why I don’t go on about my enormous feelings for this man.”

“I’ve learned an enormous amount having a relationship with someone who is in recovery. I’m more than willing to walk it with him. The two of us are very committed to our relationship.”