There is never a dull moment in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
And the Harbour City’s high society set has been rocked by two bombshells in recent days, sending the rumour mill into overdrive.
First out of the gate was socialite Harriet Williams, who sent group chats aflutter by debuting her new boyfriend over the weekend.
The kinesiologist went ‘Instagram official’ with her latest squeeze, Dugald. It marks her return to the dating scene after splitting from husband Andy El Bayeh last year.
Harriet tied the knot with publicist Andy in a ‘fairytale’ $1million wedding in 2022 after four years together.
But their sudden split in August 2024 while in the middle of a lavish European holiday sent shockwaves through their close-knit social circle.
Eastern suburbs socialite Harriet Williams sent group chats aflutter over the weekend when she debuted her new boyfriend, Dugald (together, left). It marks her return to the dating scene after splitting from husband Andy El Bayeh (together, right) last year
The reason for their sudden break-up remains unclear.
At present, little is known about Dugald, although he appears to have plenty of friends in Sydney’s social scene.
It is also not known when he began dating Harriet, and it is not suggested there was an overlap with her marriage.
Harriet and Andy had said ‘I do’ during a three-day forest wedding in the Southern Highlands in March 2022. The ceremony reportedly set them back a million dollars.
The epic 72-hour-long event kicked off with a welcome drinks held in the historic halls of Osborn House. The couple then tied the knot on the grounds of the Wollumbi Estate, exchanging vows underneath a picture-perfect forest canopy.
The fairytale nuptials, which featured in Vogue Brides, was complete with a 20-piece orchestra led by conductor Dan Fontaine.
Notable guests on the day included influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews, heiress Nadia Fairfax, TV host Renee Bargh, DJ Jordy Burrows, and model Natasha Oakley.
But Harriet’s new love wasn’t the only bit of society gossip doing the rounds of Totti’s and Mimi’s over the weekend.
Harriet tied the knot with publicist Andy in a ‘fairytale’ $1million wedding in 2022 after four years together. The popular couple split abruptly about seven months ago, in August 2024
Yes, it was only a matter of time before Kristin Fisher was back on our radar.
The Double Bay ‘eyebrow queen’, er, raised eyebrows when she was spotted getting cosy with rich kid property developer Max Shepherd at a wedding in New Zealand on Sunday.
Max, of course, is best known for being the toyboy ex-lover of one Dina Broadhurst, the renowned art collector with a phobia of clothes.
Dina and Max officially called off their four-year romance in mid-2023, but remained friends.
Max’s cuddly selfie with Kristin sparked a flurry of chatter as Kristin and Dina had only recently patched things up after falling out in early 2024… apparently over a certain man.
That feud had sent shockwaves through their friendship group, with the once-inseparable duo going to great lengths to avoid attending the same social events.
But after Dina suddenly became single again following her split from the appliances heir John Winning Jr. in early December, the two women put their differences aside.
They were even spotted looking like old friends at the society wedding of Pilates instructor Bernadette Fahey and property developer Jordan Sukkar.
Rich kid Max Shepherd (right) famously dated art collector Dina Broadhurst (left) for four years
He was pictured looking cosy with Dina’s ‘frenemy’ Kristin Fisher at a wedding in New Zealand
Dina and Kristin, both fixtures of the eastern suburbs socialite set, had an almighty falling-out last year… apparently over a certain man. However, they patched things up in early December
However, it remains to be seen if the ‘frenemies’ are back to being just enemies.
With Dina having reportedly rekindled her romance with John Jr., Kristin appears to have set her sights on Max, making a point of wrapping her arm around him for a flirty selfie and posting an eyebrow-raising (sorry, we couldn’t resist) caption.
‘Never not travelling to NZ without @mrshepo,’ Kristin gushed.
We couldn’t help but be reminded of how Dina had debuted her romance with John Jr. in May last year with a photo from their romantic getaway… in New Zealand.
Now, we’re not suggesting that John Jr. was the man the two ladies fell out over, or that Dina is cosying up to Max out of revenge. But it is a quite a coincidence!
As for Max, his recent relationship history has been rather tumultuous.
After parting ways with Dina in June 2023 after four and a half years together, he jetted off to Europe to nurse his broken heart on several luxury superyachts.
He then moved to the States and began dating Vail Bloom, the American actress and former star of reality TV show Vanderpump Rules.
But that romance imploded after he returned to Australia to help Dina sell their old Darling Point apartment, which they’d been trying to offload for months.
It turns out, in between meetings with buyers and real estate agents, the two had found time for a dip at Kutti Beach. At one stage, Dina whipped off her bikini top in front of Max – and our photographers were there to capture everything.
The pair insisted it was all perfectly innocent, but that didn’t cool Vail’s rage. Their relationship limped on for a few more weeks before they called it off.
