Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where Australia’s most trusted society insider shares the hottest gossip before it makes the news
Oh, brother
When you’re the most scrutinised player in the AFL, it helps to have a manager who answers calls from journalists.
Lachie Neale has had a busy few months. Having blown up his marriage after an alleged affair with the ex-Mormon best mate of his wife Jules, he is now rumoured to be courting busty Gold Coast glamour girl Emma Field after they were papped together at Brisbane Airport.
But reports of his new squeeze prompted an unexpected intervention from PGA golfer Jack Wright, who took to Instagram with this curious claim.
‘Only a week or 2 ago he was trying to slide into my sister’s DMs again after being denied the first time,’ Jack wrote.
Just seven months after his wife walked out on him following his alleged affair, ex-Lions skipper Lachie Neale was pictured at Brisbane Airport with rumoured new squeeze Emma Field
The reports prompted an unexpected intervention from PGA golfer Jack Wright, who took to Instagram to claim: ‘Only a week or 2 ago he was trying to slide into my sister’s DMs again’
It’s unclear which sister Jack was referring to. He appears to have two, one of whom bears a striking resemblance to Jules (left). Mormon mother-of-one Tess Crosley is pictured right
It’s an odd flex, chiming in that a footballer tried to pick up your sister, but given Lachie’s past, it does seem on brand.
It’s unclear which sister Jack was referring to. He appears to have two, one of whom bears a striking resemblance to Jules.
Naturally, I sought Lachie’s side of the story.
Unfortunately, his manager, Tom Petroro, has embraced the iPhone equivalent of an outer-suburban Ring camera: Call Screening, the feature that forces callers to declare the purpose of their call and is increasingly used to fob off reporters.
Eventually, Tom replied by text to say he was ‘tied up in meetings’. My request for comment, however, went unanswered.
Friends to strangers
While Sydney heiress Francesca Packer was sipping champagne and celebrating her second wedding during a lavish three-day Spanish extravaganza, one of her former friends was making a far more low-key appearance back home.
Ex-bikie associate and convicted criminal Mark Judge was spotted at celebrity favourite Bills in Bondi this week, flanked by a ferocious-looking dog and a glamorous blonde companion.
Judge and Ms Packer were last photographed together at the billionaire heiress’s 26th birthday aboard the floating barge The Island Sydney Harbour in 2020
Judge once joined the ranks of Packer’s ever-evolving social circle, where friendships have long had a habit of coming and going.
Relaxed and seemingly unfazed by the nuptials unfolding thousands of kilometres away, Judge lingered over breakfast while his intimidating canine kept a watchful eye on fellow diners.
The timing of the sighting is notable.
Judge and Ms Packer’s once-close bond spectacularly unravelled over an engagement ring, reportedly worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to the Australian Financial Review, Ms Packer’s now-husband Robert Bates approached Judge’s jewellery wholesale business, Time Keeper Boutique, to source a sizeable diamond.
The business sourced an 11-carat diamond and had it set in a custom engagement ring before issuing an invoice to Bates’ company, Sunce LLC, along with paperwork containing details about the stone.
Bates later sent what appeared to be a transfer confirmation from First Abu Dhabi Bank.
But the AFR reported the document lacked key information required to complete the payment, and the money never arrived.
Mark Judge and his blonde companion were seen at Bill’s in Bondi on Monday morning
Instead, Time Keeper was allegedly met with a string of explanations as they repeatedly chased the money.
In one message seen by the publication, Bates claimed Ms Packer would cover the deposit while he worked through what he described as ‘international banking issues’.
‘I’ve just spoken with FP… I’ve spent the last 48 hours trying to resolve this f**k-up in Switzerland… and continue to be promised one thing after another,’ he wrote.
‘I’m working on a local solution selling a million worth of stock to a wholesaler, which will obviously resolve the international transfer problem. FP is going to transfer the deposit now.
‘If I can’t resolve the remainder within two weeks, please sell the ring and we will obviously loose [sic] the deposit, which I’ll sort directly with FP.’
As Time Keeper continued seeking payment, Bates reportedly claimed the Russian invasion of Ukraine had disrupted his banking arrangements and frozen his accounts.
He later outlined several ways he hoped to raise the funds, including selling stock, accessing an investment payout from Abu Dhabi, obtaining a secured loan and restoring access to his bank accounts.
Bates later claimed valuations from Sotheby’s and Bonhams concluded the ring was worth substantially less than he had expected and claimed the ring was not ‘sellable’.
‘In regards to the ring; I have now received multiple valuations which value the ring at significantly less than even the deposit that was paid,’ Bates wrote.
He went on to suggest he hoped Judge had also been misled about the stone’s value.
‘I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, and hope that the people you received the ring from weren’t transparent with you in regards to its true value, or rather lack thereof. I sincerely hope that you haven’t tried to rip me off, remembering that you first showed the ring to Francesca and intended to sell it to her.’
It is understood Time Keeper Boutique still retains both the ring and the deposit paid by Ms Packer.
Judge and Packer’s friendship appears to have frayed in the wake of the ring saga.
The pair were last photographed together at the billionaire heiress’s 26th birthday celebrations aboard the floating barge The Island Sydney Harbour in 2020.
At the time, Ms Packer publicly defended Judge, saying he made her feel ‘safe’ despite his ‘colourful past’.
Bless.
A model mother
Australia’s Next Top Model alum Montana Cox is preparing to step into a new chapter: motherhood.
The 32-year-old debuted the first signs of her pregnancy at the June launch of Rodd & Gunn’s limited-edition AFL capsule collection in Melbourne, though few would have realised that beneath her oversized Demons jumper was an emerging baby bump.
Friends say Montana Cox and her partner, Louie, are expecting their first child together. Last week, the expectant mother appeared in an Instagram Story alongside fellow model Tahnee Atkinson while at a beach club in Europe, with her growing bump subtly on display
Friends say Cox and her partner, Louie, are expecting their first child together.
The couple have kept their relationship largely out of the spotlight, and off social media, despite occasionally being photographed together around Bondi.
The happy news comes after Cox quietly found love with Louie following the end of her high-profile relationship with Melbourne coffee heir Jamie Valmorbida.
Last week, the expectant mother appeared in an Instagram Story alongside fellow model Tahnee Atkinson as they dined at a beach club in Europe, with her bump subtly on display.
Her model agency IMG did not respond to my request for comment.
That’s so hell
Eastern suburbs grifter Kashaya Williams is desperately trying to claw her way back into Sydney’s social scene. How? By striking up an unlikely alliance with controversial TikToker Elle Salagaras, of course!
Last week, the polarising influencer formerly known as ‘Elle Eastern Suburbs Mum’, but who now goes by the sitcom-inspired moniker ‘That’s So Elle’, shared a vlog documenting a ‘hot girl walk’ along New South Head Road in Double Bay.
The mother of three boastfully showed off her new set of cans, courtesy of Dr Louis Wessels of One Cosmetic, during her breezy stroll with Kashaya.
It was a surprising sight indeed, as Kashaya was long assumed to have been banished to social Siberia after the NSW Supreme Court found in 2023 that she had used a forged letter to gain ownership of her late grandfather’s home during a bitter inheritance dispute.
Adding to her woes, the former wedding planner also filed for bankruptcy, had a traffic whoopsie and was rumoured to have been booted from her Double Bay home over the alleged non-payment of rent.
But all appears to be forgiven, at least when it comes to Elle, the outspoken wife of Point Capital managing director Lucas Salagaras, who seems to have become Kashaya’s passport back to respectability.
Eastern suburbs grifter Kashaya Williams (pictured barefoot and worse for wear in February) is desperately trying to claw her way back into Sydney’s social scene
Elle Salagaras seems to have become Kashaya’s passport back to respectability
The new friendship comes hot on the heels of Elle’s courtroom win over former BFF Cindy Kilian, whose doomed application for a private AVO imploded when she pulled the plug at the eleventh hour.
Cindy’s last-minute retreat didn’t just waste valuable court time, it also left behind what insiders describe as a rather eye-watering legal bill.
Elle’s lawyers previously confirmed to The Group Chat that they were weighing up whether to pursue Cindy for costs, a move that could turn an already expensive misstep into an even bigger financial headache for the Canadian-born former real estate girlie.
Not long after the AVO bid was thrown out, Cindy quietly launched an Instagram page flogging off her designer wardrobe, listing everything from well-worn Chanel sandals to a collection of high-street frocks.
Exactly how much she’s hoping to raise remains a mystery, but one well-placed source couldn’t resist observing that she’d need to sell a lot more than a few scuffed Hermès slides if Elle ultimately comes knocking for her legal costs.
