NICOLE KIDMAN broke down in tears during her first interview since her split with TOM CRUISE as she spoke of the "very painful" split.

Journalist MICHELE LAVERY, who interviewed Kidman for MARIE CLAIRE magazine just 10 days after she and Cruise announced they were splitting, says the EYES WIDE SHUT star found it hard to stop the tears as she spoke of the split.

Lavery says, "She was quite tearful, essentially right now, she's just staying alive. For her to be bringing up children on her own is very scary for her." Kidman, who admits she finds the prospect of being a single mother "scary", told the magazine, "I suppose you'd say I'm staying alive. It's difficult right now for me to talk about all that stuff because it's very painful." (LE/WNV/MCM)

Source: WENN