Karley Scott Collins Blasts Keith Urban Romance Rumors As ‘Ridiculous’

Over the weekend, the 26-year-old took to Instagram Stories to swat down gossip that she’s secretly shacking up with 58-year-old country star Keith Urban, whose divorce from Nicole Kidman was finalized earlier this month.

Collins posted a screenshot of an online headline that read, in essence, that Urban had moved in with her, then wrote across it: “Yall, this is absolutely RIDICULOUS and untrue.” She punctuated it with a laughing-while-crying emoji for anyone who somehow missed the tone.

The rumors kicked up after a January 2026 report in the British tabloid Daily Mail quoted an unnamed source claiming Urban had allegedly moved in with Collins and hinting that his daughters were “taking Mom’s side.” The story quickly made the rounds, especially once Page Six recapped Collins’ touring history with Urban and their onstage hug photos.

Reps for both Collins and Urban declined or did not respond to comment requests, according to Page Six’s January 18, 2026 report. So for now, the only person speaking clearly on the record is Karley herself, and she’s using the words “ridiculous” and “untrue.” Hard to misread that.

Country singer Karley Scott Collins speaks out as Keith Urban romance rumors run rampant https://t.co/pKh4nH5td5 pic.twitter.com/46YeTld30v

— Page Six (@PageSix) January 18, 2026

The Take

I’ll say it: this feels less like a love story and more like a textbook case of the celebrity rumor machine chewing up a young woman’s career moment.

Let’s lay out the obvious: Collins opened for Urban on his 2025 “High and Alive” tour. She posted a sweet birthday message that October, calling him kind, generous, and a friend. There are hugs, guitars, stage lights. You can practically hear the gossip blogs foaming at the mouth: older country legend + pretty newcomer + recent divorce = instant “he moved in with her” storyline.

Or – stay with me – it’s just a normal professional relationship between two artists on tour.

The leap from “she opened for him” to “they’re living together” is wild. It’s like assuming everyone you’ve ever shared office birthday cake with is your secret fiancé. The math isn’t mathing.

There’s also a pattern here that bugs me. Newly single male star? The public immediately starts casting his next leading lady like this is some twisted bachelor reboot. And the women in his orbit – especially younger colleagues – get dragged into the fantasy whether they signed up for it or not.

Collins is 26, just dropped her debut album Flight Risk in September 2025, and is finally getting real traction in country music. Yet the headline that’s going viral has nothing to do with her songs; it’s about whether a man nearly twice her age has moved into her house. That’s not a love story, that’s a PR headache.

To her credit, she didn’t write an essay, didn’t try to spin it. She posted the rumor, stamped “RIDICULOUS and untrue” on it, and went back to her life. Honestly, it might be the healthiest celebrity response we’ve seen in a while. No oversharing, no strategic mystery, just: absolutely not.

Meanwhile, this is the second woman publicly swatted away from Keith Urban since his split. After the divorce news broke, an insider close to his touring guitarist Maggie Baugh told outlets that romance rumors about those two were “absolutely not true.” Different woman, same pattern: rumored to be the rebound, promptly denied.

At some point, the story stops being “Who is Keith dating?” and starts being “Why are we so desperate to assign a woman to this man five minutes after his divorce papers clear?”

Receipts

Here’s what’s solid and what’s still in pure-rumor territory.

Confirmed:

• Karley Scott Collins posted an Instagram Story on January 18, 2026, sharing a screenshot of a headline claiming Urban moved in with her and wrote, “Yall, this is absolutely RIDICULOUS and untrue,” with a laughing emoji (as described in Page Six’s January 18, 2026 coverage).
• Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman’s divorce was finalized earlier in January 2026, after nearly 19 years of marriage, according to court reports summarized in multiple outlets.
• Collins opened for Urban on his “High and Alive” tour, which kicked off in May 2025, and posted an October 2025 birthday tribute thanking him for his kindness on the road and calling him a friend, per her public Instagram posts.
• Collins released her debut album, Flight Risk, in September 2025.
• Following Urban’s initial split from Kidman, rumors linking him to guitarist Maggie Baugh were publicly shot down by a friend, who called them “absolutely not true,” as reported in January 2026 coverage.

Unverified / Rumor:

• Claims that Keith Urban has “moved in” with Karley Scott Collins, originally attributed to an unnamed source in a January 2026 Daily Mail piece. Collins herself has directly denied this.
• Suggestions that Urban and Collins are in any kind of romantic relationship. No one on the record has confirmed this; Collins has explicitly rejected it.
• Speculation about Urban’s daughters “taking sides” in the divorce. Those comments come from unnamed sources, not from the family.

Primary sources used: Karley Scott Collins’ public Instagram Stories and posts (January 18, 2026 and prior); Page Six report on Collins’ denial and touring history (January 18, 2026); earlier tabloid reporting on Urban’s alleged move, January 2026; prior coverage of Urban and Kidman’s divorce filings and timeline.

Backstory (For Casual Readers)

If you’re not living on country music TikTok, a quick refresher: Keith Urban, the Australian-born country star and “Blue Ain’t Your Color” singer, married Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman in 2006. The two were a major Hollywood power couple for nearly two decades and share two daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith.

By late summer 2025, reports surfaced that Urban and Kidman had spent significant time apart and were facing serious marital strain. Days after those reports, Kidman filed for divorce in Tennessee. The split was finalized in early 2026.

Karley Scott Collins, meanwhile, started out as a child actor before pivoting to country music. She’s been on the radar as one of the genre’s buzzy newcomers, especially after landing the opening slot on Urban’s 2025 tour and releasing her debut album the same year.

Because Collins and Urban were photographed hugging onstage and posting friendly messages, the internet did what it does best: connect dots that may not actually form a picture.

What’s Next

For now, the romance narrative between Karley Scott Collins and Keith Urban seems to begin and end with Collins’ own words: “ridiculous and untrue.” Unless one of them says otherwise on the record, this looks like a rumor that hit a wall.

What is likely next? Collins will keep pushing her music – touring, promo, and trying to make sure people talk more about her songs than her supposed love life. Urban will move through the public phase of his divorce, continue working, and deal with the inevitable speculation that sticks to any freshly single celebrity of his level.

The more interesting question isn’t who he’s dating; it’s whether we, as an audience, can let famous men and women work together without instantly turning it into a soap opera. Every time a professional hug becomes a tabloid headline, someone’s actual career gets overshadowed.

So maybe the healthiest move for all of us is the Karley approach: see the wild rumor, call it what it is, and scroll on.

What do you think: are we just having harmless fun with this kind of speculation, or does the constant pairing-off of women around newly single male stars cross a line for you?