Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where Australia’s most-trusted society insider shares the hottest gossip BEFORE it makes the news
Brittany and David’s (real) forever home
For a few months last year we all thought Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz would be spending the rest of their lives living anonymously near Bordeaux.
But pregnancy changed their priorities, as it so often does for young couples, and they are now back in Australia for good, along with their dog Kingston, who is fresh out of quarantine.
And where will they be living?
At first, we all assumed the Gold Coast. After all, that’s where the pair married and also where Higgins used to live with her mum before she moved to Canberra in 2018.
We all thought Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz would be spending the rest of their lives living anonymously near Bordeaux, but now they’re set to buy in Melbourne
But it turns out they’ve actually set their sights on Melbourne, in particular the south-eastern suburbs, where sources say they have been eyeing up property lately.
The Group Chat hears the couple are hoping to buy in the well-heeled, family-friendly suburb of Malvern East, where the median house price is about $2million and the median unit price is just over $600,000.
According to my sources, Higgins has set her sights on Malvern East because her best friend, lobbyist Emma Webster, lives there.
For those who followed the Lehrmann defamation trial, Webster was often seen supporting Higgins outside court. She has been described by Higgins as ‘my one true love’, and by Sharaz as a ‘go-to person’ who is ‘basically part of our relationship’.
Speaking of Sharaz, he is said to be gunning for a job in Victorian politics after a lengthy period of unemployment during which his focus was supporting his wife.
A well-informed Melbourne realtor says Higgins is unlikely to be ‘buying a mansion’ despite being awarded $2.4million in compensation following her sexual assault at Parliament House in 2019.
Since then, she’s had to spend a reported $1million on legal bills defending herself in a defamation case brought by her former boss, Senator Linda Reynolds.
It’s also unclear whether she and Sharaz have managed to offload their home in France, with reports suggesting they will likely make a loss on it.
According to our sources, Brittany has her eye on well-heeled Malvern East, because that’s where her best friend, lobbyist Emma Webster (left), lives
Higgins, who married Sharaz last June and announced her pregnancy the following month, had moved to France in December 2023 to start a new life after claiming she was subjected to excessive media scrutiny.
However, their sojourn didn’t last long, with the pair listing the 160sqm, three-bedroom home for €420,000 (A$690,000) less than a year later.
In between eyeing off property in Melbourne, the couple made time this week for a quick dash to Byron Bay, where Higgins showed off her baby bump on Suffolk Park beach.
We wish the young parents-to-be the very best.
Laser clinic queen’s power move
The socialite ex-wife of Laser Clinics Australia co-founder Alistair Champion is working on her own beauty empire since splitting from the Rich Lister.
Kate Champion is close to getting a cosmetic beauty clinic in Sydney’s eastern suburbs off the ground, and even has a launch date set.
‘She’s got some multi-level space in Darlinghurst and is opening in two weeks despite having to deal with delays,’ a source tells me.
Kate Champion, the estranged wife of Laser Clinics Australia co-founder Alistair Champion (pictured together is happier times), is working on her own beauty empire
Kate (pictured with her Rich Lister ex Alastair) has a multi-level space in Darlinghurst set to open in two weeks, according to our sources
It’s unlikely Kate’s pet project is short of funding, given the former couple pocketed a tidy $17million profit after selling their home in ritzy Rose Bay in 2022.
After picking the stunning foreshore home for $18million in 2019, the pair raked in a staggering $35million for the renovated mansion, earning themselves almost $6million a year for their troubles.
The fashionista’s next chapter comes after the mother-of-two staunchly denied rumours she and her husband had called it quits.
‘I’m sitting with my husband right now,’ she told me back in January 2024, after taking to Instagram to offload her designer wardrobe.
When asked where she believed the rumour had come from, Kate laughed and said: ‘It’s just Sydney people being d**kheads.’
‘I keep my head down. I don’t buy into gossip.’
But just seven months later it was revealed her estranged husband was in a new relationship with socialite Rique Miroshnik, the ex-wife of renowned plastic surgeon Michael Miroshnik, and a former girlfriend of Michael Clarke’s.
Kate met Alistair after working at his Laser Clinics Australia business in 2009, eight years before he and co-founder Babak Moini sold it to a private equity firm for a tidy $650million.
The Champions pocketed a $17million profit after selling their Rose Bay home in 2022
After picking the stunning foreshore home for $18million in 2019, the pair raked in a staggering $35million for the renovated mansion (interior pictured)
And finally… guess who, don’t sue
We’re used to seeing heads swing from side to side at Melbourne Park as spectators eagerly follow the ball during play.
But one Aussie TV star’s entire body was swaying at the Australian Open final, and sources say it had nothing to do with the game.
We hear they enjoyed a few too many refreshments at a celebrity party beforehand.
However, by all accounts they are a ‘happy drunk’ after a few too many, so the other celebrity attendees didn’t seem to mind.
