Actress Nicole Kidman has spoken for the first time about her split from husband Tom Cruise and about becoming a single parent to two adopted children.

The couple shocked the world of showbusiness earlier this year when they announced they were ending their 10-year marriage.

In an interview with the American edition of Marie Claire magazine, the 33-year-old Australian-born actress revealed that she found being a single mother to eight-year-old Isabella and six-year-old Connor "scary" even though their father was "completely involved".

"I used to say 'Wow, I have to take my hat off to a single woman who has to do it herself' - and now I'm a single mother. It's a whole new path that I'm about to walk down," she said.

A divorce settlement or agreement on the custody arrangements of the couple's two adopted children has still to be reached.