Oldfield’s mother-in-law takes him to court over ‘unpaid loan’

Their friends are comparing it to a scene from the Hollywood classicWar Of The Roses,and this week the ongoing andincreasingly ugly breakdown of former One Nation co-founder and politicianDavid Oldfield’s marriage to formerReal Housewives Of Sydney starLisa Oldfield took another nasty turn in the Federal Court.

Oldfield’s estranged mother-in-law,Christine Johnston,is seeking to bankrupt the father of her two grandsons,over what she claims is an unpaid loan worth hundreds of thousands of dollars she made to him in 2014.

The matter is listed for hearing on July 27.

Oldfield confirmed there are “bankruptcy proceedings in the Federal Court undertaken by my mother-in-law”. He explained that he is only unable to repay the loan right now because his assets are tied up in other court proceedings.

Together for 18 years,the Oldfields’ marriage came to an end in 2019,not long after the couple appeared together on another reality TV series,I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here Australia.

Airing their dirty laundry in the most public of ways has long been a part of the couple’s high-profile relationship.

While on the promotional trail ahead of her role in theReal Housewives franchise in 2017,Lisa was prompted to divulge the couple’s bedroom secrets after David revealed the couple were in a sexless marriage and had not had sex for over a year and that they slept in separate beds.

David Oldfield remains living at the couple’s former marital home,a multimillion-dollar property on the northern beaches,while his former wife claimed she was facing the prospect of homelessness after they separated,and continues to live at her elderly father’s home.

“The reality is that after my separation,if not for the support of my family,I would be in a seriously compromised financial position,” she said shortly after the marriage breakdown.

“Without my dad,I’d be up struggle street trying to put a roof over our heads until the divorce is finalised.”

Sadly cupid’s arrow has not found its target since,with Lisa “announcing” her split from boyfriendJames Laws last year on social media,by posting a very dramatic “flushing” of her engagement ring down the toilet on Instagram.

Accusations fly in fashion fallout

From her Caringbah bedroom whipping up creations for girlfriends to a little stall at Bondi markets,Robyn Ralph says she always knew her fashion designer daughter Tamara Ralph had it in her to go all the way. And so she did,feted on catwalks from London and Paris to New York and Milan.

“We are so incredibly proud of Tamara,” Ralph,who runs an interior design business,told PS when asked about her high-profile daughter’s new legal battle.

The creative visionary behind the once feted Ralph&Russo label,Tamara Ralph has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons as accusations fly in a British courtroom from administrators of her bankrupt label,accusing her of leading a lavish lifestyle while trying to salvage millions of dollars out of the business that fell victim to the pandemic.

She’s dressed everyone fromMeghan Markle toKylie Minogue andNicole Kidman,as she and her former fiance and business partner,fellow AustralianMichael Russo,built their extraordinary luxury fashion empire,only to now see it come apart at the seams.

“She is a very strong person,she has a lot of integrity and she will fight this all the way. I have no doubt she will get through this,” her proud mother told PS.

“We[father Gordon] support her 101 per cent but until she gets to have her day in court,there is not really much we can say.”

Boyfriend exits Hitchcock pad

It was concerned friends who called the police to attend Australia’s most famous mistressShari-Lea Hitchcock’s South Coast farm just over a week ago,resulting in police taking out an interim AVO in Nowra Local Court on July 2 against her long-time boyfriend,the former window cleaner turned farmhandDallen Nichols. The matter was adjourned to August 6.

Hitchcock,who famously had an ongoing affair with the married cardboard magnateRichard Pratt that resulted in their daughterPaula,would not be drawn on details when PS queried,but she said she was concerned for the wellbeing of her former partner,who is no longer living at the property.

PS hears the rocky relationship has also caused tensions between Hitchcock and her daughter,now 23,who is due to marry her long-time boyfriend,Nassib Thoumi,next February.

Harper’s coup for relaunch

Following a short hiatus,the battle lines are being redrawn in Australia’s luxury fashion publishing arena ahead of the relaunch of US giant Hearst’s Harper’s BAZAAR Australiain September.

PS can reveal the magazine has already claimed one significant scalp from its arch-rivalVogue,by hiring the magazine’s creative directorJillian Davison,who from Monday will be working on the relaunch issue of HB due out in September.

Davison joins returning HB editor-in-chiefEugenie Kelly and comes with a serious fashion publishing pedigree,having spent the early 2000s as fashion editor at USHarper’s BAZAAR before becoming fashion director ofGlamour US,then fashion editor ofTeen Vogue USA before landing atVogue Australia where she has been for the past three years.

As for who will grace HB’s relaunch cover,several big names are in the mix,fromNicole Kidman andCate Blanchett to freshly minted SydneysiderNatalie Portman and Indigenous supermodelCharlee Fraser,who is currently back home and would certainly make a fabulous statement for the magazine’s future direction.

Any hopes to haveMargot Robbie on the cover were quickly dashed when she appeared on Vogue’s UK edition last week,whileSarah Murdoch is home in Sydney and would make a great cover girl sadly her in-laws ownVogue Australia while its editor-in-chief is her BFFEdwina McCann.

PS’s admittedly bold suggestion that perhaps a newly streamlined luxury designer-lovingRebel Wilson could be a possibility was met with incredulous guffaws. Ouch.

Jacenko waxes lyrical on Blobbies

Publicist turned candle designerRoxy Jacenko swears her “Blobbies” are not knock-offs of hip New York architects and homewares designersMark Talbot andYoungjin Yoon’s “Goober” range.

Jacenko brushed off a dishonourable mention on the Instagram account Designwithincopy,which calls out fakes and copies,and informed PS there were distinct differences in the candles,including their size,shape and even the sort of wax used. She’s been working on hers with a 3D designer in Marrickville since 2020.

“Funny,first time I have heard that someone can ‘own’ a BLOB of WAX,” she responded to PS’s queries,explaining that her designs followed “a long and drawn-out process to create shapes that could work as a more affordable alternative to sculpture for those who wanted something for the home”.

“If anything,inspiration for some of the Blobbies shapes came from the incredible works of[Sydney sculport]Carol Crawford ... hardly possible to suggest that someone could own the shape of what looks like a Man’s Willy[a misshaped mushroom version called the Lito candle]. However,as you know,I don’t mind a bit of press,it keeps the dollars coming through the till.”

Not that there would appear to be any shortage of dollars given her parents,Doreen andNick Jacenko,have finally completed their property settlement a decade after their acrimonious separation,which resulted in the estrangement of Roxy from her father.

Commercial real estate agents CI Australia and City Alliance Property declined to comment on the recent sale of a collection of investment properties that had been held in the former couple’s names,and which have now sold for an eye-watering $78 million.