Welcome to The Group Chat with Lucy Manly, where Australia’s most reliable society insider divulges the juiciest tidbits before they hit the headlines.

Cashless Kashaya living large

In spite of a second bankruptcy declaration in April, Double Bay’s wedding planner extraordinaire, Kashaya Williams, continues to make her rounds across town.

This mother of three, who the NSW Supreme Court determined had used a falsified document to claim her late grandfather’s property amid a contentious family dispute, was seen holding court at a VIP table in The Cross on Saturday night.

And just to clarify – no, I wasn’t there to party with the beleaguered socialites. My presence was due to a nearby 50th birthday celebration (Pelicano isn’t my typical scene).

Nevertheless, Williams appeared completely at ease – laughing, tossing her hair, and behaving as if her lengthy legal battles were a distant memory.

Kashaya Williams holding court at Pelicano in Kings Cross on Saturday night

The 40-year-old mother of three is pictured alongside her ex-husband Evan Williams 

The Double Bay home Williams has recently been booted from

The moment she clocked me taking a discreet snap, she quickly turned away.

It’s not the first time she’s been spotted out and about.

Back in May, I spied her at Bondi’s Royal Hotel (the ramshackle pub tacked onto Totti’s) wearing an ill-fitting lace mini dress and sipping rosé like she owned the joint.

Of course, that was just weeks before her latest bankruptcy and an appearance at Waverley Local Court, where she’s facing traffic charges for speeding and driving while suspended – charges she’s trying to have annulled.

In a fresh blow, the former florist, 40, has reportedly been booted from her Double Bay digs. A well-placed source says agents changed the locks after she allegedly stopped paying rent.

Her sons are said to be living with her mother, Nerez, on the Central Coast, while she continues to haunt the eastern suburbs party circuit.

Still, credit where it’s due – it takes serious chutzpah to lose everything and still strut into a VIP booth like a millionaire.

Litsa’s soft launch

Litsa Stavropoulos sitting on the lap of her buff new bloke

Happiness is the best revenge – or so the saying goes.

Sydney social fixture Litsa Stavropoulos has quietly found love again – months after her ex-husband, Nicholas ‘Nic’ Stavropoulos, was found guilty of raping another woman in Greece almost a decade ago, and then shacked up with Litsa’s best friend, Pembe Bekir.

Whispers emerged earlier this year that Nic, 50, had grown close to Pembe not long after his marriage collapsed.

These two couples – the Stavropouloses and the Bekirs – were inseparable for years, their lives entwined by virtue of their kids’ private school, shared holidays, and Point Piper dinner parties.

Nic and Pembe’s ex-husband, entrepreneur Deniz Bekir, had also been best mates ‘forever’. You really can’t make this stuff up.

At the time it all went down, Litsa seemed to hint at betrayal with a string of cryptic Instagram posts, including: ‘When people show you who they are, believe them.’

But in true comeback style, she’s spun her heartbreak into a soft launch.

The mum-of-two is now posting snaps with her new, very buff beau, who friends say is the ‘complete opposite’ of Nic.

Litsa and Nicholas Stavropoulos (pictured on one of their European getaways) ended their marriage in February

Nicholas Stavropoulos is now dating Pembe Bekir (left), the ex-wife of his longtime friend Deniz Bekir (right). Litsa and Pembe were also good friends for years

When Nic Stavropoulos landed in Sydney last week, he was seen lunging for a reporter’s phone

The pair are said to be living together in Greenacre, in Sydney’s west – a world away from the gossip-soaked east and her former life in well-heeled Vaucluse.

‘She’s happier and more grounded than she’s been in years,’ a source tells me.

‘She’s done with that world – the fake smiles, the backstabbing, the whispers. She’s moved on.’

It comes after Nic and Pembe jetted back into Sydney from Paris last Friday, where they were confronted by a reporter at the airport about the rape trial.

In dramatic footage, Nic – clad in a white T-shirt, black pants, and Samba sneakers – lunged for the reporter’s phone, while Pembe, in a grey hoodie and tracksuit, watched on.

‘Nic, do you have anything to say about your rape charge in Greece that you’re appealing?’ the reporter asked.

‘I’m innocent and not under bail,’ he snapped, before adding: ‘There are no bail conditions set, only a full retrial to be scheduled.’

Nic, who pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to six years in jail by a Greek court in May after being found guilty of raping a woman in a Mykonos nightclub bathroom in 2016.

The incident took place during a lavish 40th birthday trip involving parents whose children all attended Sydney’s elite Kambala girls’ school.

He’s appealed the verdict and continues to live freely in Point Piper, one of Australia’s most exclusive postcodes, while awaiting a full retrial.

And Litsa? Friends say she’s finally putting the past behind her.

‘She’s got a new man, a new life, and zero time for eastern suburbs drama.’

Great White outrage

Westfield heiress Monica Saunders-Weinberg has come out swinging in defence of two Sydney-born café owners whose trendy California eatery is facing bizarre claims of racism.

The glamorous philanthropist let rip on Instagram after the Los Angeles Times published a damning exposé titled: ‘Inside the allegations of racial discrimination at L.A. restaurants Great White and Gran Blanco.’

‘This makes me crazy!’ Saunders-Weinberg began in her fiery post.

‘They are good Aussie blokes that have worked their arses off and the name is after great white sharks that we have in our country you dumb f***s!!!! Hard working good guys… this is such BULLS**T,’ she raged.

The men at the centre of the storm – Sam Trude and Sam Cooper – are Sydney private school alumni: Trude went to The King’s School in Parramatta, while Cooper is a former Cranbrook boy.

Great White went viral last week after a TikTok user accused the beachside café of racially profiling patrons – claiming Asian diners were being deliberately seated away from others.

Westfield heiress Monica Saunders-Weinberg has come out swinging in defence of two Sydney-born café owners. Co-owner Sam Trude (pictured right)

The Westfield heiress didn’t mince her words when lashing out at the Los Angeles Times article

In the clip, TikTok user Cassidy Cho filmed herself seated in one corner of the restaurant, saying: ‘I don’t know if it’s just me but they put all Asians in one corner.’

Cho later told NBC Los Angeles she was flooded with messages from diners who’d had similar experiences – with the outlet also pointing to Yelp reviews dating back years echoing the same complaints.

Great White’s co-founders previously owned another Venice Beach restaurant, Gran Blanco, where former employee told NBC she was once instructed to seat Asian guests outside.

Gran Blanco has been under new management since June 2025.

In a statement, the pair slammed the claims as ‘completely false,’ insisting the restaurant’s name refers to the shark, not anything racial.

‘Any notion that we have mistreated customers or employees or seated people based on their ethnicity is absolutely outrageous and completely false. Everyone is welcome here,’ the statement read.

While the café has become the target of widespread online outrage – particularly among Asian-American diners – the backlash has also prompted an unlikely wave of support from conservative corners of social media…

Clara gets her Grove back

Perth socialite Clara Hurst is still flaunting her enviable lifestyle – even as trouble continues to swirl around her late husband’s financial misdeeds.

Former friends in the west tell me the glamorous mother-of-two has quietly checked into The Grove, an ultra-luxury apartment complex in Peppermint Grove, citing ‘security concerns’.

‘She’s living in a hotel-style set-up at The Grove, close to her daughters’ school,’ a source reveals.

‘She’s worried about retribution from victims [her late husband’s former dental patients] and doesn’t feel safe in her own home.’

The insider didn’t hold back on what would truly resolve the situation:

‘She could fix all this overnight by selling her house and doing the right thing – pay the victims back!’

Clara’s sprawling Claremont estate has been buzzing with tradesmen lately, and neighbours have noticed a new sign out front warning of ’24-hour security’ – clear proof the embattled socialite isn’t taking any chances.

For those not across the saga, Clara’s husband, British-born dentist Dr David Hurst, died suddenly last December at Crown Perth casino, while Clara and the children were holidaying in Bali.

A week later, the family fled to Switzerland.

Perth socialite Clara Hurst (pictured) has quietly checked into The Grove, an ultra-luxury apartment complex in Peppermint Grove, citing ‘security concerns’

Perth’s most elusive widow Clara Hurst is living at The Grove (pictured) as friends say she fears retribution from her husband’s victims 

Then came the bombshells: before his death, Dr Hurst had allegedly siphoned more than $7million from his dental practice and swindled 130 patients out of $2.3million in prepayments – some pulled directly from their super – for treatments that were either botched or never completed.

While the victims scramble to recover their losses, Clara has carried on as if untouched by scandal or financial strain.

Just last week, I revealed she’d jetted off for a girls’ getaway to the exclusive Qualia resort on Hamilton Island, joined by fellow Scotch College mums Kate Robinson, Jade Rubino, and Kristina Young.

But insiders claim the escape has only heightened her paranoia.

‘Clara’s terrified that photos will leak to the press, showing her living the high life,’ one WA spy says.

‘She knows people are watching her every move – and some are more than happy to send the evidence your way.’

For now, Clara is keeping up appearances – luxury handbags, five-star stays and all -but behind Peppermint Grove’s closed doors, whispers suggest the walls may be closing in.

Clara’s British-born husband, Dr David Hurst (pictured left) died suddenly last December at Crown Perth casino

Clara’s palatial home in Claremont has been under renovation for months

Deal or No Wheels 

Once one of the most recognisable faces on Australian television, disgraced game show host Andrew O’Keefe is quietly rebuilding his life in one of Sydney’s most exclusive neighbourhoods.

The fallen ‘Deal or No Deal’ star, 53, is understood to be out of rehab and living just a stone’s throw from picturesque Christensen Park in upmarket Vaucluse.

Locals tell me O’Keefe has kept a low profile in recent months. One neighbour noted that his 2015 Mercedes-Benz sedan seems to have sat idle for some time.

‘It hasn’t moved in months,’ the local said. ‘It’s no longer sporting a number plate and the tyres are covered in spider webs – he seems to walk everywhere. Good for him.’

The reason behind the apparent car issue remains unclear – perhaps unpaid fines, or possibly the troubled star isn’t allowed to drive.

I recently spotted the charismatic former TV regular in a funky outfit wandering through Bondi, and again in a dimly lit massage parlour next to my local Japanese restaurant in North Bondi.

I spotted Andrew O’Keefe (pictured) at a dimly-lit massage parlour next door to my local Japanese restaurant

 The fallen game show host is often seen in my neighbourhood

Elisha Dalah (pictured left) performed CPR and administered Narcan after Andrew O’Keefe overdosed on heroin

The reason behind the apparent car park fixture remains unclear – perhaps unpaid fines, or possibly the troubled star isn’t allowed to drive.

O’Keefe has endured public battles with drug addiction for years, spending time in and out of rehab centres.

In February, he faced Waverley Local Court, where he pleaded guilty to driving with methamphetamine in his system.

He escaped with a $440 fine and a six-month driving ban.

The court heard he tested positive to the drug while behind the wheel of his Mercedes C200 in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in July 2023.

When he appeared in court, O’Keefe looked noticeably healthier after a three-month stint in rehab.

But the former TV golden boy’s road to recovery has been anything but smooth.

Just a year earlier, the father-of-three had to be revived by paramedics after overdosing on heroin at a party in Sydney’s east.

The shocking incident made headlines when it emerged socialite Elisha Dalah, 38, performed CPR and administered Narcan – the heroin antidote – to save O’Keefe’s life.

Dalah, who was later fined $1,500 and handed a 30-month community corrections order requiring him to attend rehab, reportedly cleaned vomit from O’Keefe’s nose and mouth before paramedics arrived.