Which Sydney socialite is dealing coke on the side? Plus, big news for cashed-up jailbird and nightclub king’s ex delivers a $600m baby: 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

Julian’s ‘one that got away’ finds Mr Right

She may have fallen off our radar when she split from Sydney’s nightclub king Julian Tobias, but things have certainly worked out well for model Charlotte Coquelin.

The French-born and formerly Australian-based beauty is now living in sunny Miami, and recently got hitched to an eye-wateringly rich snack entrepreneur.

She’s also a mother, having welcomed a baby girl in May last year.

Doing away with the tradition of ‘marriage first, babies later’, Charlotte, 35, tied the knot with her daughter’s father, businessman Peter Rahal, in a charming courthouse wedding in Downtown Miami six months later, in November.

The union means Charlotte is pretty much set for life. Peter is worth an absolute fortune after selling his protein bar company RXBAR for US$600million.

It would be easy to assume Julian would be feeling a little glum, seeing as some members of the Sydney hospitality set see Charlotte as his ‘one that got away’.

But we’re happy to report there’s no bad blood.

In fact, the playboy owner of floating beach club The Island even congratulated her and Peter when their baby was born.

‘Omg congratulations guys, this is one lucky kid!’ he commented on their social media.

Perhaps we shouldn’t have been so surprised by his post-split goodwill. Back in 2021, Julian attended Australian Fashion Week to watch his ex walk down the runway.

He filmed Charlotte parading down the catwalk at Carriageworks and captioned the clip on Instagram, ‘When your ex is all sex.’ A glowing endorsement.

Charlotte and Julian started dating in 2017 and adopted a puppy named Miso while living together during Covid lockdown. It’s unclear when exactly they split.

Surprise delivery for high society ex-drug trafficker 

Here at The Group Chat, we believe everybody deserves a second chance.

And that includes cashed-up property developers who ended up in the slammer for trying to smuggle $85million worth of cocaine into Australia.

Who else could I be talking about but the so-called ‘socialite drug trafficker’ Matthew James Doyle?

We haven’t heard much from Matthew, 36, since he was quietly granted early release from prison at the start of last year. But in a surprising twist, I’ve been told he and his devoted wife Kelsea Doyle, 35, welcomed a baby boy in December.

It seems the couple didn’t waste any time, er, reconnecting after his stint in the clink.

The new arrival makes them a family of four, as Matthew and Kelsea also share another child, who was born prior to his arrest in 2019.

A baby isn’t the only new development either. I also hear they moved from Burraneer, where they were living at the time Matthew got parole, to a new pad in south Cronulla.

While they used to rub shoulders with Sydney’s elite and live a jet-set lifestyle, I understand the Doyles prefer to keep things under the radar these days.

Matthew’s fall from grace began with his arrest in 2019 while waiting to collect what he thought was a shipment of up to 300kg of cocaine at a warehouse in Marrickville.

It turned out undercover cops from the U.S. had caught wind of the delivery and their local counterparts swooped in, bringing an end to the criminal enterprise.

He was sentenced to a minimum of five years’ imprisonment in 2020 after he pleaded guilty to commercial drug supply and dealing with proceeds of crime.

An appeal to have his sentence cut was thrown out of court.

With time served in custody, Doyle was not due to be released until September 4, 2024, but
he ended up being freed months earlier than expected. I first reported on his release – complete with an ankle monitor and various parole conditions – in May.

It remains unclear whether Matthew intends to resume his property career, but he has told friends he will work for his family’s car-detailing business in the meantime. 

The Doyles tied the knot in a society wedding in 2018, but would go on to spend much of their married life with Matthew behind bars. 

Following his release, sources revealed Matthew and Kelsea, a publicist who once worked for fashion label Camilla and Marc, were hoping to revive their relationship and make up for lost time.

They certainly seem to have done that.

But Kelsea’s loyalty to her ex-crim husband was never in doubt. She had always vowed to stand by him and, during his imprisonment, kept a photo of the couple on their wedding day as her phone lock screen.

And finally… guess who, don’t sue

Which Sydney identity is the social scene’s point of contact for a good time?

The Group Chat hears this socialite is dealing coke on the side. Partygoers say they are an easy hook-up, praising both the product and customer service.

But the side hustle may be short-lived, as we hear cocaine is fast falling out of fashion as Sydney’s powder of choice during the cost-of-living crisis.

Their new favourite drug? Ketamine.

Note: The subject of this blind item is not named or pictured elsewhere in this article.

• Additional reporting by Savanna Young