Nicole Kidman confirms engagement to NZ-born singer

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman

LOS ANGELES - Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman says she is engaged to NZ-born country music star Keith Urban, People magazine reported today.

People said Kidman, who won the Academy Award for best actress for her role in the 2002 film The Hours, revealed her engagement while discussing her work for UNIFEM, the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

She hosted the group's 30th Anniversary gala in New York on Saturday with Urban as her date. "He's actually my fiance," Kidman told teh magazine. "I wouldn't be bringing my boyfriend."

Confirmation of the engagement ends months of speculation about the couple, who were first spotted together in July 2005, People said. Four months later, Kidman - ex-wife of actor Tom Cruise- was photographed wearing a ring on her wedding finger while walking arm-in-arm with Urban in Boston.

A spokeswoman for Kidman said she could not immediately confirm the People magazine story. A spokesman for Urban declined comment.

Kidman, 38, is a goodwill ambassador for UNIFEM, which works to empower women around the world.

Her 10-year marriage to Cruise ended in 2001. The couple have two adopted children.

Cruise's fiance, actress Katie Holmes, recently gave birth to that couple's first child together, a daughter they named Suri.

Kidman was born in the United States but brought up in Australia. Urban, 38, a singer and guitarist, was born in New Zealand and grew up in Australia. He won a Grammy in 2005 for best male country vocal performance on the song You'll Think of Me.

- REUTERS