Giddy up! ‘It’ girl with a wild past bags herself a filthy rich heir… plus, outrageous rumour about why age-gap lovers split and the WAG sending me desperate texts about Mike Cannon-Brookes: THE GROUP CHAT WITH LUCY MANLY

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

May-December lovers call it quits

It was with profound sadness I learned this week that private equity banker Tom Fennell and his much younger fiancée Annabelle Price had called it quits.

The May-December lovebirds’ ‘quickie’ engagement had set tongues wagging in June 2023 when Fennell, 52, presented Price, 33, with a five-carat diamond sparkler and an offer no eastern suburbs socialite could possibly refuse.

Their love story had emerged phoenix-like from the ashes of Price’s headline-making separation from wealth advisor Freddie Blencke, with whom she shares two children.

But just over a year after the glamorous blonde said yes, the pair quietly ended their engagement in August, and managed to keep it under wraps… until now.

Annabelle Price has called off her engagement to private equity banker Tom Fennell

‘They’re at different stages in their lives. He’s very much a social animal, still having late-night shenanigans, whereas she’s trying to raise young kids,’ a friend of Price’s tells me

‘She’s not some party girl like she was portrayed to be in the press [when she got engaged to Fennell]. She’s a single mum working full-time in a corporate job,’ adds my source 

Despite pulling the pin on their brief engagement, Price got to keep the ring given to her by Fennell, who is the managing director of Tama Capitol investment group

She is still wearing the ring for the time being, but my source tells me she may ‘turn it into a gorgeous pair of earrings’ someday

Look, I know what you’re thinking. A rich, older man, a younger bride…all very White Lotus. She probably wanted to go out partying while he was a homebody, right?

Well, sources tell me it was actually the opposite. 

‘They’re at different stages in their lives. He’s very much a social animal, still having late-night shenanigans, whereas she’s trying to raise young kids,’ a friend of Price’s tells me.

‘She’s not some party girl like she was portrayed to be in the press [when she got engaged to Fennell]. She’s a single mum working full-time in a corporate job.’

Despite pulling the pin on their brief engagement, Price got to keep the ring given to her by Fennell, who is the managing director of Tama Capitol investment group.

She’s still wearing it for the time being, but my source tells me she may ‘turn it into a gorgeous pair of earrings’ someday.

‘It’s not the worst parting gift for a brief engagement,’ adds my insider.

The break-up happened months after Fennell threw himself a 50th birthday at The Ivy Penthouse with the theme ‘A Night at the Playboy Mansion’.

Fennell declared ‘happy days’ when Price said yes to his engagement in June 2023

Price had excitedly showed off her diamond ring shortly after her engagement to Fennell 

Their love story had emerged phoenix-like from the ashes of Price’s headline-making separation from wealth advisor Freddie Blencke (left), with whom she shares two children 

Fennell’s ex-wife is Vanessa Jacobs Fennell (right), who was at the centre of a bizarre incident in the well-heeled suburb of Bellevue Hill last Friday and ended up spending a night in the clink

Ms Price did not respond when contacted for comment. 

Of course, the surname Fennell will sound familiar to anyone following the news this week, as the banker’s ex-wife is Vanessa Jacobs Fennell. 

Ms Fennell, who was once a shortlist candidate to appear on Real Housewives of Sydney, allegedly got behind the wheel of her black Range Rover Sport and began driving erratically through the narrow backstreets of Bellevue Hill where she allegedly crashed into a number of parked cars, including a Tesla, before police arrived.

The tyres on her luxury SUV were reportedly shredded as a result of her ‘doing laps’ of the suburb where her ex-husband coincidentally lives.

She was arrested at the scene after she tested positive to a roadside breath test but it’s alleged she subsequently refused police’s request to accompany officers to a nearby station for further breath analysis and assaulted an officer during the encounter. She spent the night in the clink before making bail Saturday evening. 

Giddy up! Polo-playing rich kid bags a model 

Just like Taylor Swift, she has a long list of ex-lovers… not to mention a few abruptly called-off engagements under her belt.

But it seems Aussie (sometimes) model and ‘It’ girl Megan Blake Irwin may have finally found Mr Right… and he’s a bona fide society scion.

After more than a decade as a blind gossip item mainstay with boyfriends ranging from Hollywood actors to billionaires, Blake Irwin has decided to look closer to home for her next love story.

Megan Blake Irwin was seen cheering on new boyfriend Angus Onisforou on Thursday at the Garangula Polo Club near Harden, about four and a half hours’ drive southwest of Sydney

The 30-year-old was seen watching proudly on from the sidelines as he played for his team K.O. Angus, before racing over at the end for a kiss in a delightfully regal moment 

Clad in leggings, a singlet and $620 Gucci sunglasses, plus a $4,500 Prada crossbody bag, the Adelaide-born, LA-based ‘It’ girl couldn’t keep her hands off the handsome society scion

The Adelaide-born, LA-based socialite was seen cheering on her newest boyfriend, Angus Onisforou, on Thursday at the Garangula Polo Club near Harden, about four and a half hours’ drive southwest of Sydney.

The 30-year-old was seen watching proudly from the sidelines as he played for his team K.O. Angus, before racing over at the end for a kiss in a delightfully regal moment.

Clad in black leggings, a singlet and $620 Gucci sunglasses, plus a $4,500 Prada crossbody bag, she was pictured getting along famously with Angus’ mother Heidi Onisforou, the co-founder of fine jewellery boutique Heidi & Hart in Elizabeth Bay.

At 24, Angus is on the younger side for Blake Irwin, who tends to date older. But he has plenty going for him, including his charm and blue-blood good looks.

His family’s wealth and lofty status in Sydney high society surely don’t hurt either.

Angus is the son of millionaire property investor and retail tycoon Theo Onisforou. His mum Heidi is known to have one of the chicest wardrobes in the eastern suburbs.

She was pictured getting along famously with Angus’ mother Heidi Onisforou, the co-founder of fine jewellery boutique Heidi & Hart in Elizabeth Bay

Angus wrapped an arm around his new love as the couple walked alongside his glam mother

Angus studied business and law at the University of Technology Sydney

Proving himself to be a gentleman, he helped clear some debris from under Megan’s sneaker

At one stage Blake Irwin leapt into her boyfriend’s arms as he gallantly walked her up the stairs

Angus Onisforou (far right, with his K.O. Angus teammates) is a talented polo player

Angus, 24, is the son of millionaire property investor and retail tycoon Theo Onisforou and fine jeweller Heidi Onisforou. He has a glamorous twin sister, Stephanie (right)

Angus, like many in the super-rich fraternity, likes to keep his personal life under wraps. However, we did find one grainy photo of him cosying up to model Indi Thew (right)

Blake Irwin has spent the last decade in California working as a model. Her famous exes include Scott Disick, the reality star and ex-husband/baby daddy of Kourtney Kardashian; David Mimran, the film producer and businessman whose father is French sugarcane billionaire Jean Claude Mimran; former Australian Rules footballer Tom Derickx; and ’90s heart-throb Skeet Ulrich.

Her break-up with Ulrich ended with the Scream actor levelling some scurrilous false claims against her that did the rounds of U.S. gossip sites but would give our lawyers a heart attack if we dared to repeat them here. So we won’t.

Our fascination with Blake Irwin began in June 2016 when her ex-fiancé Oscar Martin, the Rich Lister co-founder of youth media brand Pedestrian, took to Facebook Marketplace to flog the engagement ring he’d proposed to her with.

He’d only popped the question in November but things ended spectacularly just months later and the cashed-up publisher ended up listing the Cartier sparkler with no explanation for why the ring had ‘only been outside its box for two weeks’.

In contrast to Blake Irwin’s high-profile dating history, Angus, like many in the super-rich fraternity, prefers to keep his personal life under wraps.

However, we did find one grainy photo of him cosying up to model Indi Thew, known for being the former best friend of Justin Hemmes‘ partner Madeline Holtznagel.

We wish Megan and Angus the very best.  

Blake Irwin has spent the last decade in California working as a model. Her famous exes include Scott Disick , the reality star and ex-husband/baby daddy of Kourtney Kardashian

Her break-up with ’90s heart-throb Skeet Ulrich ended with the actor levelling some scurrilous false claims against her that did the rounds of U.S. gossip sites. We won’t repeat them

She also dated David Mimran (left), the film producer and businessman whose father is French sugarcane billionaire Jean Claude Mimran

Our fascination with Blake Irwin began in 2016 when her ex-fiancé Oscar Martin (right), the co-founder of Pedestrian, flogged the engagement ring he’d proposed to her with on Facebook

We wish Megan and Angus the very best

And finally… guess who, don’t sue

Which desperate WAG was blowing up my DMs asking me to ‘clarify’ she wasn’t dating Mike Cannon-Brookes?

Of course, anyone who read last week’s column will know the WAG identified in the rumour is Phoebe Burgess, the former wife of rugby league great Sam Burgess.

But this penny pincher didn’t have a dollar to spare for a Mail+ subscription, so asked me to issue a public statement clearing up that it wasn’t her. 

I didn’t fancy spoiling my scoop so left her on read.

The subject of this blind item is not mentioned or pictured elsewhere in this article. 

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