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

Dad is home!

It’s not every day that you spot a local Hollywood star going about their business in your neighborhood – much less one with a well-known sexual proclivities.

But it was the Friday before Christmas, yours truly was walking in North Bondi when I crossed paths with actor Josh Lawson who was walking his dogs.

The Mortal Kombat star, 43, who is originally from the Gold Coast and usually based in Los Angeles, was having a morning coffee. Rumor has it he moved to Bondi – an interesting choice for someone whose career keeps him busy in the US.

Back in July, we reported that Josh had a year-long affair with an influencer named Fina who he met in Bali. During their relationship, he introduced Fina to his “daddy dom” fetish – a sort of “I’m your daddy, you’re my little toy” fantasy that’s becoming more and more common among big, burly guys.

Josh Lawson, the Australian actor known for his role in the Mortal Kombat films, is living quietly in North Bondi after his ‘daddy dom’ fetish was made public by a former flame.

Josh attends the Mortal Kombat premiere in Sydney in April 2021

This is all perfectly legal, of course, and after their holiday romance ended, the two stayed in touch and regularly messaged each other and exchanged photos.

Which was fine – until Fina claimed to have discovered Josh. was also in a long-term relationship with a woman called Rebecca Moore. The plot thickens…

Among the messages were shirtless photos of Josh in bed, professing that their romance was “more than a vacation fling.”

He also regularly promised to see Fina again, she claims, but those plans never came to fruition.

Fina finally messaged Josh’s girlfriend after realizing she had been cheated on.

Rebecca seemingly responded, offering Fina a listening ear while saying Josh’s Bali adventure was “something he needed for his ego.”

She also claimed that she was also in Bali when Fina met Josh and that the trip was actually for his birthday. Eek.

“He also makes me call him dad,” Rebecca reportedly added.

Influencer Fina (pictured) had a ‘daddy dom’ affair with actor Josh, but things took a turn for the worse when she learned he was allegedly in a long-term relationship with another woman.

Now based in Bondi with his two dogs, Josh’s relationship status is unclear. If he’s single again, get ready, ladies…daddy’s house!

Marriage caps nightmarish year for super football coach

Glamorous AFL couple Simon Goodwin and Kristine Brookes are set to tie the knot a year after getting engaged.

I’ve heard the wedding is set to take place between Christmas and New Year at a secret location in Indonesia and attended by a Who’s Who of the AFL.

The wedding is so private that the procession will only include the couple’s children (they have five between them from previous relationships).

The reception will have a star-studded guest list, including big wave surfer Mark Visser, Melbourne skipper Max Gawn, celebrity lawyer Rebekah Giles, as well as influencer Brooke Hogan and her hotelier husband Myles Pitt.

The couple shared news of their engagement last December, with Brooks showing off her showpiece engagement ring on social media.

“The greatest gift I could have wished for. I can’t wait to spend Christmas with you forever,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.

Glamorous AFL couple Simon Goodwin and Kristine Brookes set to walk down the aisle a year after getting engaged (they are pictured together on September 25)

The wedding is so private that the bridal party will only include the couple’s children.

Kristine is far from your typical stay-at-home WAG. His impressive career includes a long tenure as head of distribution at Zurich Financial Services before leaving at the end of 2020 to join Milford Asset Management as head of the Australian business.

She was previously married to financial genius Bryce Doherty, who resigned from investment bank UBS when his second wife made unpublishable accusations about his behavior in a brutal LinkedIn post.

Simon married his high school sweetheart Maggie in 2005 and they separated in January 2022. They share three teenagers together.

The marriage caps a difficult two years for the football manager, who settled out of court with former club president Glen Bartlett who made several false claims about Goodwin’s behavior.

The allegations were made public following Goodwin leading the Demons to their premiership in 2021. This year they missed out on the top eight after back-to-back straight-set exits from the finals in 2022 and 2023.

Goodwin had earlier said of the false allegations: “I don’t use illegal drugs.

“I give everything I can to my family and my team by dedicating my life to my football club and putting on this game over three years where my reputation was caught up in a boardroom battle.

“This has been documented repeatedly by the public and it has been very difficult for me and my family and that’s enough. I don’t use illegal drugs and I never will.

And finally… guess who, don’t chase

For weeks now, I’ve been writing about Eastern Suburbs’ lunchtime ladies’ latest favorite operation: the half facelift..

Or a mini facelift, or a lower facelift, or a partial facelift – whatever you want to call it.

The surgical procedure involves tightening and lifting the skin on your lower face and neck, giving you a subtly younger appearance without that full facelift look.

It’s become so popular that a new fashion designer-influencer you’ve probably heard of has also done this.

Regardless, sources tell me that one of the surgeons operating on these ladies is anything but discreet. In fact, this doctor blows his own trumpet at dinner parties, using two well-known media figures as testimonials.

The only problem is that these celebrities have not publicly revealed that they have undergone a mini facelift. And I don’t think they would be happy to hear their doctor talk about their surgical history.

Aside from a plethora of degrees, isn’t discretionary plastic surgery level 101?