Elite Clinic Email Sparks Fear in Sydney; Dentist's Widow Busted in Ibiza; Socialite's Three-Way Holiday

Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where Australia’s most-trusted society insider shares the hottest gossip BEFORE it makes the news

Call the fashion police

I nearly spat out my collagen shake when I saw these photos of stylist Kelly Smythe leaving a pharmacy in North Bondi last Thursday.

Coming just weeks after her arrest for allegedly forging prescriptions, I thought paparazzi photos of the 46-year-old socialite sitting in a black Lexus for half an hour before finally entering the chemist and emerging minutes later with a paper bag were too good to be true.

They had to be staged. Surely.

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Stylist Kelly Smythe was snapped leaving a pharmacy in North Bondi last Thursday, hot on the heels of being charged with allegedly forging prescriptions. No, these photos were not staged

I thought pics of the 46-year-old socialite sitting in a black Lexus for half an hour before finally entering the chemist and emerging minutes later with a paper bag were too good to be true

Kelly, who lives in Australia’s most expensive suburb, Point Piper, emerged from her Lexus wearing sunglasses and entered the pharmacy. She was snapped emerging with a paper bag

In my years in this business, I’ve seen plenty of cynical cash-grabs where scandal-plagued ‘stars’ collude with snappers to set up a scandalous shot for a few bucks.

But I was assured by the photographer the images were genuine and not staged. She really was picking up her meds. Bless her.

The former ‘It’ girl – who worked for Seven and dressed the likes of Jen Hawkins and Rihanna – was charged in May with allegedly using fake scripts to score ADHD meds.

A suspicious pharmacist called a Tamworth doctor and discovered the script was a forgery – the doc hadn’t worked there in years. She was then busted outside the Paddington Compounding Pharmacy in a sting set up by the chemist and local police.

The Point Piper resident – who once promised to source a client a $60,000 Hermès Kelly bag, only to deliver a dupe – was arrested and spent the night in the clink before being released.

In granting bail, Magistrate Sharon Freund told Smythe’s barrister Charles Alexander: ‘I suspect your client may have an issue with the drugs she has been self-prescribing.’

Police alleged she’d been hitting up the same pharmacy every 20 days for two years using forged prescriptions. That’s a lot of pills.

Blended family holiday for Kristin

Personal trainer Chris Barnes (right) recently holidayed in Bali with his stunning partner Jessica (left)… and his ex-wife, Double Bay eyebrow queen Kristin Fisher, tagged along

Both Kristin and Chris have been posting endless snaps from Bali on Instagram with their kids – so they’re clearly together – but notably they haven’t tagged one another or posed side by side

Here’s one of Kristin’s holiday photos, showing her children strolling down a street in Bali

A week at a Balinese resort with your ex-husband and his new girlfriend doesn’t sound like my idea of paradise.

But Double Bay eyebrow queen Kristin Fisher showed her commitment to playing happy families with her ex Chris Barnes by joining him and their two children – plus his stunning partner Jessica – on a trip to the Indonesian party island.

Their 2020 split was messy with many rumours slung her way – which she denied – but that’s all in the past for the former couple who were married for seven years.

Both Kristin and Chris have been posting endless snaps from Bali on Instagram with their kids – so they’re clearly together – but notably they haven’t tagged one another or posed side by side.

The same can’t be said for Chris and his ladylove Jessica, who have been packing on the PDA like there’s no tomorrow in their sun-soaked holiday shots.

I can only imagine Kristin out of view, forcing a smile. She’s a braver woman than I.

Kristin (left) split from ex-husband Chris in 2020, just months after they shared pictures of the moment they renewed their vows (right)

Chris and his ladylove Jessica have been packing on the PDA like there’s no tomorrow. One can only assume Kristin was back at the hotel with the kids

Skye’s the limit!

Well, this is one Euro summer moment I wish I’d scrolled straight past.

Skye Leckie – the powerhouse philanthropist and doyenne of Sydney high society – shared footage on Instagram this week of herself cutting loose at a beachside restaurant in the South of France.

Dressed in her breezy holiday best, the widow of TV boss David Leckie was seen gyrating with gusto around an umbrella stand, which she treated like a stripper pole as ABBA blared in the background.

She didn’t just ask for a man after midnight – with those moves, she summoned half the restaurant to join in.

Whether fuelled by one too many rosés or pure joie de vivre, her spontaneous routine quickly became the talk of the Riviera expats.

Doyenne of Sydney high society Skye Leckie worked an umbrella stand like a stripper pole at a beachside restaurant in the South of France this week

Skye’s spontaneous routine quickly became the talk of the Riviera expats. (Pictured in 2023)

Top clinic bent out of Shape

Something’s amiss at one of Sydney’s most exclusive aesthetic clinics.

Last week, a carefully worded email landed in the inboxes of current and former patients of the Shape Clinic in Darlinghurst – and while it was light on details, it certainly raised eyebrows.

The message, cloaked in PR-speak about ‘professionalism’ and ‘patient confidentiality’, quietly announced that Laura Nicholas – a co-director and prominent figure at the clinic – was ‘no longer affiliated’ with the business in any capacity.

It concluded with one alarming request: if patients are contacted by Ms Nicholas about anything related to the clinic, they must alert management immediately.

Patients of the Shape Clinic in Darlinghurst (pictured) received an email last week announcing that a co-director of the business was ‘no longer affiliated’ with them in any way

No further explanation was offered. One recipient told us: ‘It’s pretty shocking. Patients are understandably worried because we have no idea what has happened.’

Naturally, tongues are wagging. The email reached thousands of women across Sydney, many of whom must know Ms Nicholas. What could have prompted such a sudden parting of ways?

We make no suggestion of wrongdoing, but patients are gossiping and Ms Nicholas has only fuelled the intrigue by going radio silent after the email was sent.

When I tried to reach her at her residence, she either wasn’t home – or wasn’t talking.

Stay tuned. This one’s far from over.

You can crop, but you can’t hide

The saga of cosmetician Clara Hurst keeps on rolling.

Several months after the untimely death of her husband, the late dodgy dentist Dr David Hurst, my Perth spies have reliably informed me the glamorous mother-of-two is cutting loose in Ibiza.

Who did I spy cropped out on the right side of this Ibiza nightclub snap? It’s Clara Hurst! I’ll never forget those eyebrows

I was sent a photo of aspiring WA socialites Jade Rubino, Kristen Hodgson and Kristina Young letting their hair down on the Spanish party island… and who did I spy crudely nudged out on the very edge of the frame?

You can crop yourself out, Clara – but I’ll still find you!

Her European jaunt comes after former patients of her late husband – who died last year at Crown Perth casino – enlisted legal firm Slater and Gordon to help them claw back some of the money they spent on dental treatments that were either botched or left incomplete.

Before his sudden passing, Dr Hurst had allegedly siphoned more than $7million from his practice, Perth Dental Rooms, rendering it insolvent.

Clara Hurst is pictured with her late husband Dr David Hurst at the Melbourne races last year, about a month before he died at the Crown Perth casino

Some patients paid more than $70,000 in advance for procedures that never occurred and are yet to be reimbursed, after being encouraged to dip into their super. As previously covered in this column, several other patients have been left in constant pain due to broken implants, infections, and other untreated complications.

As they fight for their insurance claims, Clara, the caretaker of her late husband’s estate, looks quite unfazed by it all – even if she is self-conscious enough to ask her friends to crop her out of their holiday snaps.

A spokesman for Clara advised us that she is in Europe because that is where her family resides. She will not comment on personal matters.

As for the legal matter, we were directed to her prior statement: ‘In my capacity as executor of the estate, I have received numerous potential claims in relation to my late husband’s dental practice.

‘I can confirm that I have diligently acted as the executor in informing all relevant parties of any potential claim against the estate of my late husband.’

You’ve got meth!

Readers, did one of you send me this baggie of ice?

An innocent trip to retrieve my mail this week had me worried I was about to be raided by the Bondi vice squad.

I opened my letterbox to discover a package I hadn’t ordered from a fake return address in Punchbowl that contained a bag of… meth.

One moment you’re expecting a speeding fine or the latest issue of The Beast, the next you’re holding a Ziploc bag of tiny shards of ice! Just another day in the eastern suburbs.

Look, I’m no saint, but I’ve never fired up the glass barbecue, so you’ll understand my confusion when I pulled open the package to find drugs inside.

And before you accuse me of opening someone else’s mail, it was delivered to the address where I have lived for five years, though not to me personally.

I immediately reported it to the police who were as baffled as I was. I still have no idea who sent it – it’s very niche fan mail, to say the least.

Maybe it was a gag gift? If so, it was an expensive one – about $500, I’m told.

Stay tuned and maybe double-check your mailbox tomorrow – you never know what surprises you might find.