Kyle Sandilands' surprising response to rumours Hugh Jackman's affair with Sutton Foster 'is the reason' he ended marriage to Deborra-Lee Furness

Kyle Sandilands rushed to the defence of Hugh Jackman on Thursday amid reports the actor's rumoured affair with theatre star Sutton Foster is the reason his marriage to Deborra-Lee Furness ended.

The radio king, 53, was discussing with his KIIS FM co-star Jackie 'O' Henderson , 49, speculation that Jackman's relationship with Sutton contributed to his split from Furness in September 2023 .

He revealed his reasons for supporting Jackman, 56, who is said to be completely smitten with glamorous Broadway star Foster, 49.

'Who cares if the rumours are true? How long is Hugh supposed to stay single for, how long is long enough?' Kyle asked.

Jackie then jumped in to say there were rumours that Jackman's close relationship with Foster contributed to his shock split with Deborra-Lee.

However, Kyle was having none of it and said he wasn't interested in hearing unverified claims, saying, 'I don't believe in unknown sources, which could be lying to sell a story.'

Jackie then said there was strong speculation that Deborra-Lee had appeared to confirm the rumours by 'liking' an Instagram gossip page post by blogger Tasha Lustig claiming Jackman was 'running off with the mistress' and planning a 'soft launch' of their relationship.

Adding credence to the claim was Deborra-Lee's friend Amanda de Cadenet, who commented on the same post: 'You are on point with this one. My beloved friend Deb is about to have her glow up any moment fyi!'

Kyle still refused to listen to the speculation and shot back Deborra-Lee may have 'liked the post by mistake' and that people shouldn't read too much into it.

Lustig's post also claims that Hugh and Sutton have been planning a 'soft launch' of their relationship publicly to test reaction.

The pair have already attended public events together, looking smitten with one another at the opening night of their show The Music Man on Broadway in February 2022.

It was in March 2020 - right when COVID shut down the world - when the Australian 56-year-old and the Georgia-born, Michigan-raised 49-year-old giddily first began workshopping Jerry Zaks' Broadway revival of the 1957 musical.

Hugh and Sutton took on the roles of Harold Hill and Marian Paroo in The Music Man, which ran from February 2022 to January 2023 at the Winter Garden Theatre in Manhattan.

'Sutton and Hugh's relationship is the reason Hugh and Deb [separated],' a source close to Foster told Us Weekly.

'A lot of people on Broadway knew, and we kept it quiet because both of them are so nice and great people. Everyone respected their privacy. But there was an affair and overlap. They are really happy now.'

They continued: 'Hugh's whole image is that he's the nicest guy in Hollywood, so he doesn't know what to do with this.'

And while a source told DailyMail.com on October 26 that Furness 'had her suspicions when Hugh started working with Sutton' an industry source claimed the opposite to Us Weekly.

'Deborra-Lee was blindsided when she found out about the affair through the run of the show,' the insider said.

'It was apparently Broadway's worst-kept secret, and Deborra-Lee was the last to know. [Worse yet,] he didn't own up to it!'