Nicole Kidman Ellen DeGeneres
Nicole Kidman recently appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show Reuters

The Academy Awards 2017 will be the most controversial ever for its historic best film gaffe but there were other moments that made it to the internet and that includes Nicole Kidman's infamous clapping.

Kidman's recent appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show revealed the secret behind her rather awkward clap at the awards show.

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The Lion actress sat down with the talk-show host to discuss her new drama on domestic abuse, Big Little Lies. However, Ellen soon flipped the serious discussion to ask her for the real reason behind her weird clap at Oscar's this year. "The lens didn't do it to anybody else's fingers! How can you make any noise like that? You're not even really clapping," DeGeneres said.

"I don't clap like that!" a visibly embarrassed Kidman said and explained her 'Cinderella story' to the audience. "Because I borrowed ... it's the Cinderella thing. You borrow these expensive jewels, and I'm like, 'I must not damage these diamonds!' Cause I have to give them back at midnight! And so I'm like, clapping," Kidman said.

The actress' weird clap during Hollywood's biggest award night has become a source of numerous memes on the internet.

She concluded the fairytale: And they went back beautifully intact, not a scratch on them." Ellen later jokingly asked the Australian actress to demonstrate her clapping ability to the audience, "I worked on it," Kidman joked.

The 49-year-old actress is receiving great reviews for her performance in the HBO show Big Little Lies and the film Lion, and is happy to be "recognised" at the airports. "When it first came out I remember ringing and saying 'I wish it had been more successful' ... then it started to snowball. Then I was suddenly being recognised in airports and on aeroplanes and women were coming up to me on the street talking about the character and what would happen next and I was getting texts from Keith's friends," she said.

"What do you mean you suddenly got recognised? Do you think people didn't know who you were before this?" Ellen asked. Kidman, however, was humble enough to admit that she hasn't done a role in recent years that "has really penetrated into the psyche of the world.