Rozalia Russian and Lana Wilkinson have revealed the moment a nasty feud between them almost tore the Melbourne socialite set in two.
They said their friendship, which is now stronger than ever, was once so fractured that their social group, which includes the likes of Bec Judd and Nadia Bartel, were forced to take sides for more than a decade.
The influencer, 37, who is married to bar baron Nick Russian, and the shoe designer, 43, debuted their new podcast The Archive on Tuesday, detailing the moment tensions boiled over and left them screaming at each other in the middle of an event.
‘We were not friends. It started off great and then we ended up yelling at each other at an event,’ Rozalia began during the first episode of their podcast together.
‘Something that we, looking back now, are so mortified by. Ashamed. All of the big words. Embarrassed,’ Lana added.
Rozalia and Lana went on to say they hit it off and ‘bonded’ when they first met at a photoshoot 12 years ago.
Rozalia Russian, 37, (left) and Lana Wilkinson, 43, (right) have revealed the moment a nasty feud between them almost tore the Melbourne socialite set in two
They said their friendship, which is now stronger than ever, once fractured so much that their social group, which includes the likes of Bec Judd (far right) and Nadia Bartel , were forced to take sides for more than a decade
‘You were styling me,’ Rozalia said to Lana.
‘We bonded because we were both really early in our pregnancies… We started on a high and then it kind of went wrong.’
Lana said she had thought about their feud ‘a lot’, revealing it began during the Spring Racing Carnival shortly after they had met.
‘If I have a look back at where I think I have to take responsibility, it was not being able to dress you for Spring Racing Carnival,’ Lana said.
The shoe designer went on to say she had overcommitted to styling 26 socialites and influencers during the annual event, and decided to turn down Rozalia’s request to be styled by Lana.
Rozalia said she took the rejection to heart, believing Lana ‘hated’ her, and began to foster a simmering resentment toward her friend which lasted for seven years.
‘We’re talking about 12 years ago when you’re really trying to cement yourself in this industry,’ Rozalia explained.
‘I personally felt like I had to fight for every job because… I felt like at the time a lot of people were looking at me like, “Who are you and who are you dating?”‘
Pictured together with Nadia Bartel
The influencer, who is married to bar baron Nick Russian, and the shoe designer debuted their new podcast The Archive (pictured) on Tuesday, detailing the moment tensions boiled over and left them screaming at each other in the middle of an event
Rozalia said she felt slighted and ‘insecure’ that Lana chose not to style her, but Lana explained she had just become pregnant with her second child and simply didn’t have the time to style her.
However, she added she didn’t communicate that well enough to Rozalia and had been ‘quite aggressive in my approach as well’.
What followed was seven years of the pair not communicating about their growing resentment and refusing to acknowledge each other at events, with Rozalia confessing she often spoke poorly about Lana behind her back.
‘I think it spiralled as a result,’ Lana confessed.
‘You’ve got to have the conversation. It’s uncomfortable. It’s yuck, but when you build it like that, it started to impact other people around us.’
‘It was uncomfortable for everyone around us. It was almost like teams. Are you Roza? Or are you Lana? It was awful,’ Rozalia said.
‘It was like where does your loyalty lie? Why are you saying hi to her? And I look at the way I acted back then and I’m like, “Oh my God, you were so petty. Who cares?”‘
Tensions between the friends-turned-enemies came to a boiling point during a socialite event just before Covid lockdowns occurred.
Lana said their feud began during the Spring Racing Carnival in 2013, when she refused to style Rozalia because she already had too many clients. Lana is pictured left at the event with a friend
Rozalia said she took the rejection to heart, believing Lana ‘hated’ her, and began to foster a simmering resentment toward her friend which lasted for seven years. Rozalia is pictured with her husband, Nick Russian, and their first child, Willow, in 2014
‘After a few champagnes and not enough food, we were hanging around,’ Rozalia explained.
‘One minute we’re standing there having a drink and then something happened, a comment was made, and I just remember launching into you.’
‘You launched into me,’ Lana laughed.
‘And I remember saying to you, “Get it out. You’ve been hanging onto this for seven years. I had to hear it from everybody else. Go on. Say it.”‘
‘Something I didn’t mention, something I’m not proud of, I just sat there talking about you to other people. I was just so consumed by this… We were at each other’s throats,’ Rozalia said.
Lana said she felt really ‘shameful’ following their verbal row, which happened in the middle of a room full of people.
She added that her husband, Liam Wilkinson, who was friends with Rozalia’s husband, Nick, was ‘horrified’ when he heard about the fight.
Rozalia agreed, adding that had their partners been in the room, things ‘would have never got to that’ point.
After their heated argument, Lana and Rozalia came together again in late 2021 when Nick launched his Melbourne celebrity hot spot, Bar Bambi, (pictured) with the pair sharing a tense but polite exchange where Lana thanked Rozalia for inviting her
‘When you really break down why a person acts in a certain way, a lot of it comes down to insecurity and unhappiness. I look at me back then and that was me, I was insecure,’ Rozalia said.
‘From that experience, I remember just feeling shameful. It was devastating at the time,’ Lana added.
Rozalia and Lana didn’t talk for three years following the heated argument, revealing they had a lot of time during Covid lockdowns to reflect on what had happened.
They came together again in late 2021 when Nick launched his Melbourne celebrity hot spot, Bar Bambi, with the pair sharing a tense but polite exchange where Lana thanked Rozalia for inviting her.
‘I remember walking in and I was absolutely s***ting myself,’ Lana joked as she recalled speaking with Rozalia for the first time since their verbal blowout.
‘I remember thinking I just have to go up and say, “Congratulations,”‘ she added. ‘I remember you just going, “You’re welcome. Have a good night.” It was progress.’
‘Covid had happened. Big world problems. I think everyone was just sick of us talking about it as well,’ Rozalia added, revealing all their friends were trying to convince them to patch things up.
It wasn’t until the Caulfield Cup in October 2022 when Lana and Rozalia finally addressed what had happened and reignited their friendship.
It wasn’t until the Caulfield Cup in October 2022 when Lana and Rozalia finally addressed what had happened and reignited their friendship. Lana is pictured at the event
‘We were sitting down near the DJ and Nick came over with this huge thing of drinks. I was like, “No, I’ll buy some I don’t want to be taking from you,”‘ Lana said.
‘And then you leaned over and said, “Well I reckon, after what happened, I owe you a drink.” And then I leaned over and said, “I’m really sorry.”‘
Lana went on to say the pair had a ‘few more drinks’ and were even filmed dancing and singing together.
‘There was just relief that it’s over,’ they said.
The pair went on to say their friendship is now stronger than ever as they have spent the last few years making up for lost time and rebuilding the trust between them.
