Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where Australia’s most trusted society insider shares the hottest gossip before it makes the news.
Anthony’s rebound engagement
Well, that didn’t take long. The ink had barely dried on Anthony Sullivan’s divorce from ex-wife Shelley Sullivan before he proposed to Bushells tea heiress Alisha Oxley.
I’d heard talk of an engagement while knocking back champagne at a society wedding a few weeks ago, but brushed it off. Surely a man with that sort of bank balance wasn’t dropping to one knee after a relationship of less than a year?
Well, apparently he was.
Several well-placed sources from the finance crowd have confirmed the engagement, which seems to have been quite hush-hush with no public confirmation on social media.
Fresh off his split from wife Shelley, Anthony Sullivan has popped the question to Bushells tea heiress Alisha Oxley. (Pictured: Anthony and Shelley Sullivan before their May 2024 split)
Alisha Oxley – lawyer, Bushells tea heiress and soon-to-be wife of Anthony Sullivan – is seen leaving a Pilates class in Double Bay when the Daily Mail papped her on February 26
I took this snap of Alisha and Anthony at a Crowded House concert in Bondi Beach in February, confirming their relationship
The loved-up pair are celebrating in suitably understated fashion: island-hopping through Mykonos, cruising the Greek islands aboard a superyacht before making their way along the Amalfi Coast, through Venice and now Capri. As one does.
Regular readers will remember I broke news of their romance back in February after spotting the pair looking cosy at the Crowded House concert in Bondi Beach.
At first glance, Alisha bears a resemblance to her predecessor, Shelley, the powerhouse behind MCoBeauty, who sold her remaining 50 per cent stake in the cosmetics giant last year in a deal valuing the business at more than $1billion.
While some might be tempted to draw comparisons, Alisha is a catch in her own right. Alongside her legal career as a junior solicitor, she hails from Sydney society royalty, with the Bushell family calling the heritage-listed Carthona estate in Darling Point home – which I’m told is quietly up for sale.
Anthony, meanwhile, has hardly been roughing it since the break-up.
He dropped a suburb-record $41 million – in cash – on a newly built waterfront trophy home in Kirribilli, smashing the previous record by more than double.
Chatter in the eastern suburbs suggests he also walked away with a tidy cheque from the MCoBeauty empire about the time he and Shelley went their separate ways after eight years of marriage.
While Anthony and Alisha’s engagement is now common knowledge among the society in-crowd (I can already picture the interlocked ‘A’s at their wedding), I’ve heard whispers that two details are raising eyebrows.
He has a type: Alisha (left) bears a resemblance to beauty industry trailblazer Shelley (right)
Anthony was briefly linked to Double Bay brow plucker Kristin Fisher after his split. Kristin (pictured with Shelley) strongly denied speculation she was involved with her friend’s husband
The Mail pictured a glamorous Kristin breaking cover in Double Bay at the height of the rumours she was involved with Anthony. She described the gossip as ‘unequivocally false’
The first is the aforementioned fact that Alisha looks rather similar to the newly slimmed-down Shelley.
The second is the speed of the engagement, with Anthony said to have proposed after just seven months of dating.
Of course, it’s hardly a crime to have a type, or to have enjoyed a whirlwind romance. I’m only passing on what I’ve heard…
The Sullivans’ ‘abrupt’ separation wasn’t without its share of society gossip.
Anthony was briefly linked to Double Bay brow plucker Kristin Fisher, who strongly denied the speculation, describing suggestions of an entanglement with her friend’s husband as ‘unequivocally false’. Naturally, we make no suggestion otherwise.
Kristin, of course, had previously weathered allegations in 2020 that she had become entangled with celebrity hairdresser Tom Cole while they were both married. She later insisted there were ‘no secrets and certainly no affairs’ involving Cole.
These days, The Group Chat hears Shelley and Anthony are on friendly terms.
Meanwhile, Shelley is busy travelling through Europe, most recently posting from St Tropez.
Alisha has had her own brushes with the headlines.
She shares two children with Dennis Dowlut, one half of early-2000s R&B duo Disco Montego, whose hit Beautiful soundtracked many a nightclub dancefloor. Their relationship came to a dramatic end in 2021 when Dowlut was reported missing, triggering a statewide police alert before he was located safe and well.
Shelley did not respond when contacted for comment.
Guess who’s back!
It may have been declared over, but don’t write the final chapter on Linda Rogan and Deniz Bekir just yet.
Rumours that Linda had already upgraded to a mystery Melbourne billionaire may have been a little premature.
While talk of a cashed-up new interstate suitor has been swirling through the eastern suburbs, The Group Chat understands the reality is quite different.
Multiple sources insist Linda and Deniz remain firmly in each other’s lives, with one telling me reports of the romance’s demise had been ‘greatly exaggerated’.
Just three weeks after news of their split broke, the pair were spotted checking in together at Sydney Airport’s domestic terminal, looking every bit the loved-up couple.
Linda Rogan and Deniz Bekir remain very much in each other’s lives, with a source telling me reports of their romance’s demise had been ‘greatly exaggerated’
Three weeks after news of their split broke, the pair were spotted together at Sydney Airport
And because nothing is official until it hits Instagram, Linda appeared to all but confirm the reconciliation on Wednesday when she tagged Deniz in a meme. How romantic!
The brief split followed whispers that Linda had grown tired of Deniz repeatedly lamenting the breakdown of his marriage to ex-wife Pembe, who is now in a relationship with his former best friend, Nicholas ‘Nic’ Stavropoulos.
If Stavropoulos’ name rings a bell, there’s a reason: the Sydney travel mogul was found guilty by a court in Naxos, Greece, in May last year of raping a fellow Kambala School parent during a trip to Greece nearly a decade ago.
The incident, which allegedly took place in a nightclub bathroom, sparked a years-long legal battle that culminated in a high-profile trial. Stavropoulos was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment but has appealed the conviction and remains living in Point Piper while the matter works its way through the Greek courts.
Under Greek law, an appeal triggers a full retrial and the conviction is set aside.
Deniz is pictured with his ex-wife Pembe prior to their separation
Pembe is now dating her former best friend’s ex-husband Nic Stavropoulos (second from left). The Bekirs and the Stavropouloses are seen holidaying together before their marriages ended
Early last year, Stavropoulos’ decades-long marriage to wife Litsa ended, but whether this was due to the stress of his legal matter in Europe is unclear.
He subsequently began a relationship with Pembe, his former wife’s close friend.
Linda and Deniz, meanwhile, were first romantically linked in 2025, following the Bekirs’ break-up. They later made their public debut as a couple at the Soirée by the Sea fundraiser at Catalina in Rose Bay.
Before dating Deniz, Linda was best known for another eyebrow-raising fling.
She has also quietly closed the doors of her Laser Clinics Australia franchise in Double Bay after more than a decade in business.
In an email to clients, Rogan wrote: ‘We wanted to personally share that after 11 wonderful years as part of the Double Bay community, we have made the decision to close Laser Clinics Australia Double Bay from Thursday 26 February.
‘We want to take a moment to thank you sincerely for trusting us with your treatment journey. Your loyalty and support have meant the world to our team. It’s been our absolute privilege to help you feel confident in your skin.’
The closure came as Rogan’s franchise lease expired, forcing her to decide whether to sign on for another five-year term.
Spare a thought for the fuzzy-legged women of the eastern suburbs. Double Bay has never quite recovered.
Help wanted
The cost-of-living crisis may be hitting hard for some, but TikTok personality Elle Salagaras appears to be living in a very different economy.
The influencer formerly known as ‘Elle Eastern Suburbs Mum’ (she now goes by the sitcom-tinged moniker ‘That’s So Elle’) has put out the call for not one, but ‘maybe two’ personal assistants – despite not appearing to hold a conventional job outside of documenting her glamorous lifestyle online.
In a recent shout-out, the mother of three declared she was looking for a ‘PA for an influencer’, which includes the usual tasks of answering emails, scheduling content and ‘facilitating brand deals’, as well as some, er, acting requirements.
‘Are you comfortable filming in public and also are you comfortable being on camera?’ she asked. Shudder!
The influencer formerly known as ‘Elle Eastern Suburbs Mum’ has quietly put out the call for not one, but ‘maybe two’ personal assistants – despite not appearing to hold a conventional job
Perhaps the new assistants will be required to walk the Salagarases’ dog? Elle’s husband Lucas was seen tending to dog-dad duties when we papped the couple back in March
At present, Elle’s content largely consists of luxury shopping hauls, beauty appointments and documenting life in the affluent east – though she does have ambitious plans for a cooking show. (Ed-Perhaps she could hire Kyly Clarke?)
The job ad comes just weeks after Elle returned from a sun-soaked holiday in Thailand, where followers were treated to a steady stream of bikini-clad snaps proudly showcasing the results of her recent breast implant revision surgery.
A new set of cans isn’t the only reason why Elle is smiling through the chilly Sydney winter.
Earlier this year, she emerged victorious after her former best friend Cindy Kilian abandoned a hopeless private AVO application at the eleventh hour.
The last-minute backflip didn’t just chew up valuable court time; it also left behind what insiders describe as a rather eye-watering legal bill.
Lawyers acting for Elle revealed their client was still weighing up whether to pursue a costs order against Cindy, a move that could prove a costly headache for the Canadian-born real estate girlie.
Perhaps sensing which way the wind was blowing, Cindy later launched an Instagram account to offload her designer wardrobe, listing everything from a well-worn pair of quilted Chanel sandals to a rack of fast-fashion frocks.
No dollar figure has been disclosed, but one well-placed source quipped she’d need to sell a lot more than a few scuffed Chanel slides to cover her former friend’s legal fees.
