.

While some won’t be thrilled that this is another post about Nicole, it’s something we couldn’t ignore. I thought the news about her new baby, via a surrogate, was something people were interested in discussing and indeed it was. The comments on that post are still going strong and have covered everything from the ethics of surrogacy to infertility. But there has been an uncharacteristic amount of vitriol on that post. Uncharacteristic for Mamamia where the quality and tolerance standard of comments are higher than any other website I know but not uncharacteristic for any discussion about Nicole Kidman.

This is interesting to me. Why, more than any other celebrity I can think of, does Nicole Kidman polarise public opinion? There are celebrities you like and those you don’t and many many where your care factor is so low that it falls off the earth and drifts off into space. But very few people are on the fence about Nicole Kidman.

I once wrote a column about this Nicole syndrome myself when it was peaking after the release of Australia. The response on this website and in the community was massive. She is polarising. I have my own theories about why (which I aired in

my column) and I was fascinated to read Bryce Corbett’s thoughtful profile of Nicole in the current Women’s Weekly.

It changed my opinion of her somewhat, I encourage you to read it.

But when Bryce and I were talking yesterday about Nicole and he read the comments on Mamamia, he agreed to write this piece exclusively for us about what it is about Nicole Kidman that makes people go, well, a little bit nuts.

Bryce writes for Mamamia….