What’s REALLY Going On Between Nicole Kidman & Co-Star Simon Baker!

Is there a vibe brewing between Nicole Kidman and Simon Baker?

The Oscar-winning actress recently stirred up romance rumors with The Devil Wears Prada actor at the red carpet premiere of their new show, Scarpetta, earlier this month. Not only do they play a couple in the crime drama, but they were pictured holding hands at the premiere while posing for photos with the rest of the cast.

Nicole, of course, is a single woman coming off a divorce from Keith Urban, while Simon split from his longtime wife Rebecca Rigg in 2020.

Recently speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Nicole talked about her level of comfort doing kissing scenes with Simon for the show:

“I didn’t find it weird. But we’ve kissed on the cheek before. We’ve hugged a lot. We’ve lived in the same house.”

What you might not know is Nicole has been lifelong friends with Simon’s ex-wife:

“And you know, 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… I think because of our history together, that’s in-built, so we didn’t have to work for that, that just vibrates.”

Simon Baker & ex-wife Rebecca Rigg — Simon Baker & Rebecca RIgg (c) FayesVision/WENN

So, is she moving in for the kill on her bestie’s ex-man?? Or what’s going on?

On Thursday, an insider spoke to DailyMail.com about the actors’ flirty rapport, claiming it’s actually a “standing joke” that friends AND Simon’s ex-wife are all in on:

“Simon, Rebecca and Nicole were great friends for decades. Rebecca would always tease him that he liked Nicole better than he liked her. Simon used to flirt outrageously with Nicole. It didn’t seem to bother Rebecca. It became a standing joke.”

The source went on to recall a Halloween party the trio attended together two decades ago where Simon was more attracted to Nicole — despite Rebecca’s saucy costume:

“Simon and Rebecca turned up at a Halloween party in the Hollywood Hills over 20 years ago with Nicole in tow. Rebecca was dressed as a dominatrix and Simon was holding a pair of handcuffs. Nicole didn’t bother to dress up. But Rebecca said she had no doubt Simon was turned on by Nicole. Even though she was wearing an outrageously sexy get-up.”

The source claimed they “all laughed about it because they were such good friends” but at the time did wonder if “Simon was infatuated with Nicole.”

OMG! Poor Rebecca! LOLz!

According to the insider, it was Nicole and Rebecca who first became friends in their teen years after meeting during auditions. The BFFs “hit it off immediately” and remained tight over the years… so tight Simon and Rebecca even made Nicole godmother of their son Harry, now 24!

Rebecca was reportedly there through thick and thin for the Family Affair actress, including through her divorce from Tom Cruise and the emergence of her relationship with Keith and the double dates that followed.

So when Simon and Rebecca went on to divorce in 2020, Nicole couldn’t help but remain friends with both of them. The source dished:

“Nicole wasn’t torn when Rebecca and Simon split. She stayed friends with both, but was closer to Rebecca. It was a girl thing.”

On the Eyes Wide Shut actress’ seemingly flirtatious relationship with her bestie’s ex, a second source told the outlet:

“Nicole loves that there is talk of a relationship brewing with Simon, because it gets eyes and ears on their show. And for now it’s innocent enough to let it be. They are great friends who love each other, but they aren’t in love. Their relationship is strictly platonic. It is all a good result for the promotion of Scarpetta.”