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Christie Swadling has married her fiancé Joel Price in a very intimate ceremony. The 28-year-old influencer shared the exciting news to…
Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where Australia’s most-trusted society insider shares the hottest gossip BEFORE it makes the news.
Society show-offs humbled
There are many things considered a ‘kiss of death’ to a marriage – secrecy, a lack of intimacy, money problems…
But for the high society couples of Sydney’s east, the most deadly kiss of death of all seems to be a feature in Vogue Brides magazine.
Gracing the pages of the fashion bible’s bridal spin-off is considered the ultimate status symbol for prestigious newlyweds.
But in recent memory no less than four famous couples have called in quits soon after flogging their wedding pics to Vogue (along with some of the most chin-wipingly fawning interviews I’ve ever read in my life.)
The wedding of publicist Andy El Bayeh and kinesiologist Harriet Williams featured in Vogue Brides. Their marriage was short-lived, and they’re not the only ones…
Vogue Brides also featured AFLW great Moana Hope and model Isabella Carlstrom in 2019. They would welcome two children together but ended up consciously uncoupling in May 2023
The trend has become the talk of eastern suburbs in recent months, with some creatively dubbing it ‘The Curse of Vogue Brides’.
Who are the four ex-couples?
First there’s publicist Andy El Bayeh and kinesiologist Harriet Williams. They tied the knot in a ‘three-day long enchanted forest wedding’ (pass the bucket) back in March 2022, but called it quits in August 2024.
And we have The Group Chat favourites Montarna McDonald and Nicholas Pitt, who said ‘I do’ in a ‘summer countryside wedding’ in the Hunter Region in 2018. Their break-up hit the headlines in July, but they’ve actually been dunzo for ages.
Then there’s Montarna’s mate Sophie Coote, the co-founder of fashion label Sir, who wed husband Daniel Fraser in what Vogue breathlessly described as a ‘secret garden wedding’ in Western Australia in 2023.
Their marriage lasted a matter of months and she debuted her new man Jordy Burrows, the ex-husband of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift actress Nathalie Kelley, in August 2024.
Lastly, we have the ‘intimate Melbourne wedding’ of AFLW great Moana Hope and model Isabella Carlstrom in 2019.
They would welcome two children together via IVF but ended up ‘consciously uncoupling’ in May 2023. Moana went on to date the spotlight-loving beauty queen Maria Thattil, although they have since split.
Sophie Coote, co-founder of fashion label Sir, wed Daniel Fraser in what Vogue breathlessly described as a ‘secret garden wedding’ in 2023. Their marriage lasted a matter of months
PR queen Montarna McDonald and lawyer Nicholas Pitt said ‘I do’ in a ‘summer countryside wedding’ in the Hunter Region in 2018. Their marriage famously didn’t last
‘One break-up is unfortunate, two is a coincidence, three is a pattern, four is a curse,’ one (happily married) socialite tells me of the ‘Vogue Curse’.
‘You can’t help but think those fawning headlines and artsy black and white photos jinxed them a bit. It’s sad really.’
Birkin handbags at dawn
Bexley isn’t the usual place you’d expect to find one of Australia’s richest men set up a sprawling personal compound.
But that middle-class suburb in Sydney’s south is where Richard White, the headline magnet CEO of WiseTech Global, feels most at home.
The former wannabe rock star who ended up making a fortune in software still lives with his mother and best mates from his teenage years at the high-tech, solar-powered fortress he built around his childhood home.
And there’s apparently another house guest who has been living it up at White’s Bexley HQ and turning heads among the neighbours… and her presence may well be a thorn in the side of White’s wife Zena Nasser.
The woman in question is Kimberlee Cvitash, an American who, sources say, has grown close to the billionaire tech mogul. She is the latest blonde to be linked to White, whose relationships have a habit of ending up in messy court battles.
The marriage of Richard White (left), the headline magnet CEO of WiseTech Global, and former lawyer Zena Nasser (right) is a source of endless fascination for eastern suburbs gossips
Bexley locals report seeing busty American Kimberlee Cvitash on and off at White’s suburban compound. The two struck up a friendship in San Francisco in 2022, according to reports
Cvitash, a long-distance runner and mother, posted a video of herself in a bikini in April 2024
Previous reports indicate Cvitash, a mother who also goes by Kimberlee Anne, first met the businessman in San Francisco in 2022 when she was running a marathon.
Her on-and-off presence around Bexley is an open secret among the neighbours, who note her U.S. accent and pneumatic figure set her apart from the locals.
While it’s unclear if she is currently in the country, she does appear to be closely following events in White’s tumultuous life.
I have obtained screenshots of posts from Cvitash’s private Instagram account. She frequently posted this week as several WiseTech directors resigned and reports surfaced about White’s on-off relationship with Nasser.
The posts include boasts about her luxury lifestyle, being ‘crazy’ yet irresistible to men, as well as references to ‘karma’.
Several uploads include Australian flag emojis, which suggest she is directing them against unnamed enemies in Australia.
These are posts from Cvitash’s private Instagram. She frequently posted this week as several WiseTech directors resigned and reports surfaced about White’s rocky marriage to Nasser. Tellingly, several posts included Australian flag emojis
This week, Cvitash uploaded a picture of Mark Manson’s self-help book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** alongside the caption ‘Joke’
Copies of that book were famously handed out at a ladies’ luncheon hosted by Nasser (right) at Mimi’s in Coogee in late November
Another of Cvitash’s private Instagram Stories was a repost of the quote, ‘All’s fair in love and blackmail,’ to which she added a vomit-face emoji
Cvitash uploaded a picture of Mark Manson‘s self-help book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** alongside the caption ‘Joke’. Copies of that book were handed out at a ladies’ luncheon hosted by Nasser at Mimi’s in Coogee in late November, in the aftermath of White’s Federal Court showdown with his ex-lover Linda Rogan.
(Rogan, a laser clinics entrepreneur who was once a contender to appear on The Real Housewives of Sydney, alleged in court White had offered to invest in her business in exchange for sex. During their affair, he also bought Rogan a $13.1 million mansion in Vaucluse, which she never moved into, but for which she spent more than $90,000 on luxury furniture. The unpaid furniture bill was at the heart of the legal case.)
Another of Cvitash’s private Instagram Stories was a repost of the quote, ‘All’s fair in love and blackmail,’ to which she added a vomit-face emoji.
One post included the text, ‘He’ll tell you I’m insane but won’t tell you how many times he came back.’ Another showed the actors Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox alongside the caption, ‘Me and the guy who pulled me by being obsessed with me.’
The latter post included Australian flag emojis.
Old videos suggest Cvitash visited Bexley in July. She captioned a clip of her stroll through the neighbourhood, ‘Happy Freedom Day from Australia. I love my Bexley guitar player’
Later that month she seemed to be back in the States and posted a throwback of suburban backyards, with the caption: ‘I miss the birds in Bexley and him. #guitarplayers #downunder’
Another upload that also featured the Aussie flag was a quote from the meme page @SpiritualAsylum that read, ‘Karma don’t miss nobody. Be careful how you treat people.’ A further post read, ‘Everyone is so lucky I don’t have a podcast [because] I’ve got a lot to say.’
Old videos from Cvitash’s Instagram suggest she previously visited Bexley in early July. She captioned one clip of her stroll through the neighbourhood, ‘Happy Freedom Day from Australia. I love my Bexley guitar player.’ White used to play guitar and repair guitars for Australian rock bands in the ’70s before becoming a software entrepreneur.
Later that month she seemed to be back in the States and posted a throwback video of suburban backyards, alongside the caption: ‘I miss the birds in Bexley and him. AU/US #guitarplayers #downunder.’
The Group Chat contacted Cvitash for comment via her website but did not receive a response. It remains to be seen whether her posts are simply wishful thinking or whether she is indeed White’s chosen paramour. We’ll keep you updated.
And finally… guess who, don’t sue
No desperate, bag-licking socialites this week, dear readers.
Instead, I have a scoop on a genuine Aussie A-lister who found themselves unexpectedly humbled in a small bar in Tokyo.
Despite being one of our biggest Hollywood exports, my spy tells me they were treated like just any other member of Joe Public when they shuffled into Narukiyo Izakaya, an ultra-trendy basement sushi bar in Tokyo, a couple of weeks ago.
The well-refreshed star could be heard slurring their own very famous name repeatedly to the non-English speaking waiter at the bar, who checked and re-checked whether the famous guest had a booking.
After giving up on blagging a reservation, they were shown to a seat-for-one at the bar and promptly ignored.
Their bruised ego healed quickly, however, as they marvelled at the eponymous Narukiyo expertly carving sashimi and frying tempura behind the bar.
An Aussie A-lister was treated like just any other member of Joe Public when they shuffled into Narukiyo Izakaya, an ultra-trendy basement sushi bar in Tokyo, a couple of weeks ago
The celebrated (and eccentric) chef, who wears a head towel that is covered in that most famous of English phrases ‘f*** off’ and who wears a pin that reads ‘I love sex’, also paid no attention whatsoever to his celebrity guest. It’s perhaps no surprise given it’s not unusual to see the likes of Sofia Coppola or Dua Lipa in his restaurant.
But what did catch my spy’s eye was seeing a waiter’s eyes light up like a Christmas tree when a young, tall and incredibly handsome Japanese man came to the door.
Not being au fait with Tokyo celebrities, my source couldn’t identify the man, but they assumed he was some kind of film or TV star judging by the reception he received.
The local star then pointed over to our lonely-looking Aussie propping up the bar. Moments later, the mortified waiter, realising his error, scurried over to apologise then whisked them off to a VIP table.
The subjects of this blind item are not pictured or mentioned elsewhere in this article.
- Additional reporting by Jo Scrimshire and Max Aitchison
