Keith Urban "sucked at relationships" before he met Nicole Kidman.

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman

The 'Blue Ain't Your Colour' hitmaker thinks he has become "more so the person" he thought he was before he met his now-spouse, with whom he shares Sunday, nine, and Faith, seven.

Speaking to Grammy Museum's Scott Goldman for SXSW, he said: "Back before I met Nic and got married I sucked at relationships. I would write these songs about love and relationships; I remember writing 'Somebody Like You' and playing it for my girlfriend at the time and she just looked at me and said, 'You're a f***ing hypocrite,' and I couldn't argue that. And I realised I was writing from all these place of the kind of person I wished I could be. I wasn't that person but I wanted to be. It was only a song but my real life was a disaster. The only thing that's changed in my life is I've more so become the person I was trying to be."

Meanwhile, Nicole previously credited Keith for boosting her self-esteem.

She explained: "I didn't [feel comfortable] as a kid or a teenager. Not even in my early 20s. Your confidence grows as you get older, particularly when you're in a loving relationship. Everything strengthens. A lot of that insecurity and desire to please is based on low self-esteem, so trying to build that is important. And Keith has been a huge part of it.

"I'm aware of being in a sweet spot right now but it takes contrasts to have that awareness. You have to have experiences, ups and downs and the idea that life is a long path. Right now, I'm the most balanced, awake, and alive I've ever been."

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