Doing the extra $50 million to recreate the Golden Mile

The original Porky strip club on Darlinghurst Road turned off its famous neon lights five years ago after 30 years.

The attention to detail on the Kings Cross set includes everything down to the graffiti.Credit:Media Mode

Before lockdown laws restricted late-night trading, John “King of the Cross” Ibrahim was often seen standing outside strip clubs with guards in tow.

The actual club is also featured in Nine’s Lower belly: The Golden Mile and one graphic scene shows Ibrahim – played by Firass Dirani – was taken away by guards after being stabbed.

It’s over: Firass Dirani comes to grief in Underbelly: The Golden Mile.

But even when the series was remade in 2009, producers had to look beyond Kings Cross to shoot scenes.

Most of the show is shot at Longueville Road Lane Cove, which is converted into the famous Golden Mile on the leafy north coast.

Longueville stores became The Love Machine, Porky’s and Pink Pussycat. Longueville Road is a no-go zone and even Sydney buses are diverted around film locations.

According to locals, three times a week Longueville Road is dressed to look like Kings Cross. Neon signs are put up and taken down daily, something the crew working on the set in western Sydney need not worry about.

A new chapter for cheaters

Well connected Annabel Walker says she has changed her life after being recognized as a socialite con of the tweed and pearl of the Southern Highlands after she was sentenced to prison in 2020 on a string of charges of various frauds.

Annabel Walker appeared on SBS’s Insight program.Credit:SBS

And within two months, she was expecting her first baby, the start of a new chapter away from the unflattering headlines she had previously produced.

But when he appeared on SBS Outlook recent program, in an episode featuring con artists and their victims – including Cecilie Fjelljoy featured on Netflix hits Tinder Scam series – Walker’s comment about “paying every penny back” that has tongues wagging around Bowral’s coffee shop.

He claims to have paid his dues since his release from prison, but that claim does not apply to his former boss, the director of the Aust Leisure Group Hugh Clarkewho said he had not seen the “penny of the money” he stole.

Walker had used his boss’s credit card to swindle more than $17,000.

“A few people called me after seeing it on television, but I haven’t seen the money returned, so I’m not really sure what he’s talking about. Yes, I would gladly take the money back… he knows exactly where to find me,” Clarke told PS.

But according to Walker, she has paid about $20,000 through an Employment Development Order (WDO) since leaving prison and working for a charitable organization called Keeping Women Outside Jail.

WDO is a NSW initiative that allows vulnerable people to waive unpaid fines (penalty notices and court fines) with activities or treatments rather than money. WDO is overseen by a health care organization or practitioner called the WDO sponsor.

“I’m trying to do the right thing, I’ve changed my life, I want to make amends,” he told PS, explaining he wasn’t sure how the money would be returned, promising to send a copy of the order by Thursday, which had not arrived by Friday’s press time. .

The former student at the prestigious Frensham school in Mittagong previously told the court he was in an “irrational” state of mind and was acting on “pure adrenaline” describing it as an “out-of-body experience”.

The court previously heard he sent false documents to police claiming he had checked himself into a South Coast Private Hospital for mental health treatment to explain why he was unable to report on two occasions as part of his bail conditions.

During sentencing, judge Susan McIntyre told the court that Walker’s “many” cases of dishonesty represented a “flagrant breach of trust”.

Party time in Paxos

It’s Big Fat Greek’s Big Fat Greek Birthday on Paxos by an Australian film and television producer super, marking his 50th birthday a year after the event when his original birthday party was canceled by COVID.

She certainly earned her right to celebrate, after producing many global hits, she is the woman who has brought the world’s Australian stories including Big Little Lies and Penguin Bloom.

This week he has greeted the cast of his Aussie friends on the Greek resort island for celebration, including fellow producers Emma Cooper, Naomi Watts, Asher Keddie and Maria Coustas. On Friday Nicole Kidman had joined the fun, which culminated in a Grecian Luxe themed dinner.

No news whether fellow Australasia Neil Finn Crowded House fame will join them, though he was also spotted in this week’s Paxos.

Raised by a single mother in a housing commission flat in Adelaide, Papandrea will mark his 51st birthday, no doubt a great time to reflect on his success after two dropouts: once after starting a trade law degree at the University of Melbourne and then guaranteeing an arts degree at the University of Adelaide.

Cupid’s arrow on

Renowned Sydney Architect Nick Tobias has confirmed he is dating Dan Lewisred carpet fixture who recently split with her rich husband David Lewis.

Architect Nick Tobias.Credit:James Brickwood

The Lewises were last on this page a year ago after appearing Uncle David, a 63-year-old London-based moneybag Michael Lewismarried 31 year old lady Kitty Spencerdaughter of Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer.

In 2019 PS revealed Tobias’ marriage to wife Dear Mirandaa writer and former model, has ended.

Meanwhile, it is a rich businessman in Sydney Robert Whyte who caught the eye on the boat? James Packer’s IJE last week in the Mediterranean. Whyte, 79, has been joined on board by single mother Sydney Alessandra Eddythe marketing boss at luxury fashion boutique Belinda, who told PS Whyte, 40 years her senior, is an old friend of the family.

Rich Recorder Robert Whyte.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Bastille Day with glitter

Young burlesque artist Gypsy Rose Lee once famously learned “Ya Gotta Have A Gimmick”, a lesson that Melbourne performance artist The Huxleys clearly understood, (consisting of partners Will and Garrett Huxleylocal icon around Melbourne) which was among the star attractions at the French beauty concoction provider, a lavish Bastille Lancme Day dinner on Thursday evening at Redfern.

Melbourne’s formidable performing arts duo, the Huxleys.

Adorned with kooky costumes, ruffles, towering post-modern honeycomb wigs, and enough sparkles to blow your mind. Kerri-Anne Kennerleytheir appearance from Xanadu certainly a sight to behold. Meanwhile, Jesinta Franklin sticking to the “script”, revealing the secret to her happiness is watching her children grow, and avoiding any mention of the ongoing contract saga of husband and star Swans player Buddy.

Stick to the script: Jesinta Franklin.Credit:Studio La Tessa

And closing the night is Jasmine Stefanovic with his stepdaughter Ava, also named Willow. Jasmine told PS she was getting ready for her first big flight with baby Harper as she and her husband Today co-host Karl Stefanovic went to Europe for the summer.

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