Forgotten friends of widowed socialite reveal the past she doesn’t talk about… before she reinvented herself as Perth’s cosmetics queen: THE GROUP CHAT

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

‘Mr Sexy Time’ is back

I always love an excuse to write about Sydney property mogul Tony Benjamin – mainly because it means I get to call him by his totally baffling nickname… Mr Sexy Time.

(Why is he called that, by the way? I’ve heard it for years and no one has ever explained its origins. If you know, slide into my DMs…)

Last time we heard of Tony, he’d split with his former flame Chrissi James. He was later papped by us on a cosy beachside stroll with artist Dina Broadhurst in a truly astounding set of photos. 

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Well, that’s all water under the bridge, because on Monday one of my spies snapped a pic of Tony enjoying a chummy breakfast with Chrissi at Potts Point hotspot Zinc.

I was surprised to see them back together. 

Sources told me Chrissi had been left ‘devastated’ when, after their own split, Tony and Dina rekindled their own decade-old romance back in August 2023.

Clearly, Mr Sexy Time is an easy man to forgive.

The reunion comes just weeks after Sydney real estate bigwig Ben Stewart reportedly dropped a cool $200,000 whisking Chrissi first-class to Europe.

We texted Ben in late June and he told us they’d been a couple for about 12 months.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: where does this all leave Dina Broadhurst? 

Last we heard she was back with fridge-flogging Rich Lister John ‘Herman’ Winning Jr. Shocker.

Party like it’s 2006 

Last month, I leaked the big plans for Bondi Sands co-founder Sean Wilson’s more-money-than-sense Sydney bucks party blowout.

Now the photos are in – and it’s more cringe than I could have possibly imagined.

After flying into the Harbour City by private jet, the convoy rolled up to Mimi’s in Coogee in a stretch Hummer – like it’s 2006.

The photographer told me the boys were lapping up their moment in the celebrity spotlight. Bless them.

And no, these shots weren’t staged. They really were that pleased with themselves.

Their accommodation was – naturally – a lavish Vaucluse mansion. The locals, I am told, had been ‘bracing themselves’ since my column two weeks ago.

Here’s hoping they managed to keep it down and the groom didn’t chip a veneer!

(Party) Princess of Wales 

Ever since I began reporting on the strange saga of widowed WA socialite Clara Hurst, I’ve received a steady stream of tips from… Wales.

It’s not a country I often think of, nor a place that you’d think would have much to do with Perth’s affluent western suburbs.

But I’m reliably informed that Clara’s years in Cardiff, the country’s largest city, were ‘where it all began’. It was the city where she met her future husband, the late Dr David Hurst, and where she became something of a party girl.

Now the owner of luxury Cottesloe salon Blanc, back in the mid-2000s, she could be found walking down Greyfriars Road in skin-tight minis and gravity-defying heels.

It’s a stark contrast to the polished persona she has adopted as the co-founder of prescription skincare business The Secret, alongside Dr Deb Cohen-Jones.

In one throwback snap, supplied to me by an ex-party pal, the now-43-year-old mother-of-three strikes a pose in a short blue dress, one leg draped across a friend.

When she moved to Australia with her husband, it seems she left her partying ways behind her. Her old friends don’t seem to stay in touch.

‘A lot of the girls in Cardiff don’t speak to Clara anymore and seem to have deleted all traces of her,’ a former pal told me.

Another shadow from Ms Hurst’s past is the sad downfall of her husband’s old university friend Dr Aled Jones, whose life took a similarly dark path to David’s – though fortunately his didn’t end in tragedy.

Both men were brought undone by gambling, a habit they picked up as students.

For those unfamiliar with the Hursts’ story, on December 10 last year, David died suddenly at Crown Perth casino while Clara and their children were holidaying in Bali.

While the exact circumstances remain confidential, authorities confirmed his death was not being treated as suspicious.

Before seeking a new start in WA, Dr Hurst had previously been convicted of defrauding the UK’s National Health Service using forged patient declarations.

Cardiff Crown Court found he stole £15,584 (AU$35,550) by submitting fraudulent claims while working at the Bridgend Dental Centre. He pleaded guilty to 69 counts of theft, receiving a suspended sentence and 200 hours of community service in 2012.

Two years later, he was banned from practising dentistry in the UK by a professional conduct committee, prompting him to relocate to Australia, where he set up his own practice and seemingly had no issue registering as a dentist.

Like David, his former best friend from university Dr Jones also ended up defrauding the NHS – in his case to the tune of £67,420 (AU$139,500).

He did so to fund his gambling addiction while working at University Hospital of Wales.

According to the former friend I spoke to, David and Aled had spent much of their free time as students gambling at Grosvenor Casino.

While David would later die alone at a casino, leaving his young children fatherless, I’m told Aled has managed to turn his life around.

‘He got treatment for his addiction, regained his licence, and has since raised money for Ukraine by cycling there from Cardiff,’ the source shared.

‘He’s also spent a lot of time volunteering, trying to make amends for what he did.’

David – who has been posthumously accused of swindling patients at his Perth dental clinic – tragically never had the chance to do the same. 

Royal treatment 

Believe it or not, the Emerald City still has places where you can fly under the radar.

Last week, Sydneysiders unknowingly shared their streets and cafés with not one, not two, but three royals – including a Crown Prince catching waves at Bondi – and no one noticed. 

Well, except The Group Chat.

Horrid weather might have helped disguise the future King of Norway, Crown Prince Haakon, and his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit. Or perhaps they simply blended in by looking so ordinary.

By all accounts, the royal couple looked like ‘normal Aussies in an Audi with surf racks’. The only sign they might have been special visitors from Europe was the pair of nondescript BMWs trailing them, driven by police and a Norwegian security detail.

The Crown Prince and Princess – in town to visit their daughter Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who is studying for a Bachelor of Arts at Sydney University – touched down on Logies night and were whisked straight from the tarmac to the Park Hyatt.

They stayed in the penthouse apparently.

I caught wind of their visit when Ingrid Alexandra took a break from welcome week to meet up with her mum and dad. The family squeezed in a stop at Sydney Aquarium before dashing back to the hotel for a meal on Wednesday afternoon.

A short time later, ‘Ingy’ – as she’s affectionately known to her St Andrew’s College friends – was back out enjoying student night at the Alfred Hotel, leaving her parents to enjoy their five-star digs alone.

On Sunday, the Crown Prince and Princess ventured to St Andrew’s in the pouring rain to meet some of Ingrid’s college mates and inspect her student digs, which were decidedly more humble than Oslo’s Royal Palace.

That night, a final freshers’ week party was held in the junior common room – with no parents invited. For a lark, Ingrid’s mates dressed as princess brides, tiaras and all.

We’re told Ingy partied into the early hours to the sounds of Jet’s ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl’. A very Aussie welcome indeed.

Now, time to hit the books, Ingy.

New portfolio addition 

She’s the powerhouse real estate agent famous for selling mansions on Luxe Listings Sydney – and now Shani Costi has clinched her biggest deal yet: motherhood.

The reality star set Instagram alight on Tuesday with a sizzling bikini snap from the Four Seasons Astir Palace in Athens, in which she proudly cradled her growing bump.

The backdrop of rolling surf was a fitting location for the milestone, just two years after she wed husband Tas Costi, a commercial buyers advocate, in the same spot.

Known for her designer wardrobe and no-nonsense negotiating style, Shani kept her caption refreshingly understated: ‘Back 2 years later with’ – accompanied by a cherub emoji.

With cameras rolling for the next season of the hit Amazon Prime Video series, expect to see Shani’s signature stilettos swapped for comfortable flats.