Real Housewives of Adelaide: Find out who’s been ‘cast’
Who would make up the line up if the hit reality show landed in the City of Churches? We’ve consulted an expert and here’s SA’s dream cast.
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The Real Housewives of Adelaide. If only. And, why not?
Melbourne and Sydney have their own versions of the show. After checking in with man about town Filip Odzak, who is a super fan of the Real Housewives franchise, we’ve come up with a list of who we would love to see represent the City of Churches.
Filip says there’s a formula and that the women featured are not the usual suspects.
Instead, they might be “stepping out of the shadow of a famous partner” or they are career women who need to get out from behind their desks and kick up their heels.
While we would not expect the “bitch-slaps” the franchise is famous for from this lot … we think they have the personalities and pizzazz to make for some seriously fun addictive viewing.
SALLY PHILLIPS
Is it time to give this quiet achiever a shout out before an international audience?
You know “if you know, you know”? Well, long before it was a thing, it was being said – by those in the know – about Sally Phillips, the designer and her eponymous label.
All about “timeless style”, the luxury brand has clocked up 29 years, which is no mean feat in the rag trade.
Wearing Sally Phillips is almost like being in a secret club; you won’t find the garments – which you can only buy by appointment – in boutiques.
And a seat at one of Sally’s twice yearly parades is strictly by invitation, making it one of the hottest tickets in town.
LikeCamilla Frank, the designer behind Camilla who famously appeared on The Apprentice, Sally has a “tribe” of loyal clientele across the country, who pretty much wear her brand and nothing else.
They would be glued to their TV sets if she were to be cast on Real Housewives of Adelaide … even though we suspect it wouldn’t really be her thing, being all class like her understated designs.
That said, with her business acumen, she would be able to negotiate a contract that suits her to a tee.
AMITY DRY
Real Housewives of Adelaide would be the ideal opportunity for this popular girl about town to make a big comeback on the small screen.
Amity Dry found fame when she and then husband Phil Rankine appeared on the first season of renovation show The Block in 2003, and released an album, The Lighthouse, which made the ARIA top 10.
Back on the telly in 2013, Amity and Phil won The Block All Stars.
While their marriage didn’t last – and Phil infamously flopped as a concert promoter – Amity reinvented herself.
The cabaret performer, who was a Fringe regular, is now a successful real estate agent.
Filip says Real Housewives loves a driven career woman and recording artist (we’re looking at you Gamble Breaux), and Amity ticks a lot of boxes.
She may also have tea to spill, having taught Delta Goodrem and Bec Hewitt to sing. But would she dish the dirt on Phil?
MIRELLA ROMANO
This stylist doesn’t just see things in black and white and would be a colourful cast member.
All hail the Queen. Adelaide fashion royalty, Mirella Romano rules.
She’s worked at Wild Child Stylelab and Whistles and had her own boutique Naked, in Rundle St.
But her real claim to fame was being the stylist of Sophie Monk’s girl group Bardot, as she loves to say “back in the day”, and having a monthly column in Cosmopolitan (the mag not the cocktail made famous by Sex and the City), when Mia Freedman was editor.
But living in Sydney, Mirella was homesick for her mum Pina’s lasagne and her then boyfriend Nick, and if you’ve seen him, you’ll get it.
Returning home, Mirella married the love of her life – in Collette Dinnigan, of course – and became a contributor to the Sunday Mail, dressing everyone who’s anyone – including Miranda Kerr, Jennifer Hawkin, Jesinta Franklin, Megan Gale and hubby Nick.
CASSIE BARNES YOUNG
A PR guru who knows everybody who’s anybody in Adelaide and looks the part.
After doing her public relations apprenticeship at Foster Hill (founded by legendary PR queens Karyn Foster and Sue Hill), Cassie Barnes Young launched her own biz working on an event at Adelaide Oval with the late, great King of Spin Shane Warne.
Since then Be Young PR’s been busy with a host of lifestyle clients and parties including a VIP soiree to launch Camilla store at Burnside Village hosted byGuy Sebastian’s wife Jules and the grand reopening of T-Chow in Chinatown last year. Cassie’s well connected (she comes from old money, which Filip says is a bonus for any real housewife) and dressed (her fabulous floral engagement frock was by Liza Emanuele and George Gross & Harry Who designed her glamorous wedding gown). And should Cassie become a household name thanks to RHOA, it would be good for her hubby Toby Barnes’ chiropractic business. He would have a potential patient every time someone craned their neck to catch a glimpse of his TV star wife!
ALLY AOUKAR
This hostess with the mostest will cater to viewer’s appetites for a touch of Hollywood.
Ally Aoukar with hubby Ray Dahdah and Katelyn Timmings and Craig Goodwin. Picture: Advertiser library
Remember how Filip said one of the prerequisites of being a real housewife is that you aren’t an obvious choice?
As in, you are not someone who would go to the opening of an envelope just to be seen.
You won’t find Ally in any social photographers’ “look at me” file (full of socialites who ask to be snapped).
Although when we first laid eyes on her – at a Burnside Village event – we had to ask, to borrow from the title of Madonna’s 1987 movie, “Who’s that Girl?”.
That said, immaculately groomed and wearing a powder blue pant suit with an old-school cool vibe, Ally had more in common with Marlo Thomas, the star of 1960s sitcom That Girl.
We soon found out Ally – who is a VIP client of couture+love+madness – was from event management, catering and styling biz Out in the Paddock, which she runs with hubby Ray Dahdah.
How did we not know this before? Like all great hosts and event managers, Ally and Ray are too busy making it their business to make sure everyone else is having a good time to put themselves out there.
But when they do – for example at last year’s SOHO Supper Club opening, they make everyone stop and stare. We would love to see what Ally could bring to the table on RHOA, especially if it’s bespoke cocktails. Drinks with the girls would never be the same.
KYLIE RANKIN
The Real Housewives franchise is known – and loved – for catfights, but you also need someone who brings warm and fuzzy feels.
You may also recall Filip saying a real housewife was also someone with a famous partner? Meet Kylie Rankin, partner of the legendary DJ Josh.
Spinning tunes longer than any other female DJ in Australia, Josh has mixed with, and for, huge international stars such as Kylie Minogue, the Pet Shop Boys and the late, great George Harrison at the Adelaide Hilton; during the 1995 Grand Prix George asked her to play a CD.
The track was Free as a Bird, The Beatles’ yet-to-be-released first single in a quarter of a century.
Kylie is the founder of Pivotal Physiotherapy and Pilates at North Adelaide.
With a commitment to women’s health and wellbeing, her words to live by are, “Wherever you go, go with all of your heart”.
What’s not to love about the idea of Kylie being on RHOA? After partying with Josh, the housewives could be guided by Kylie through a calming pilates sesh.
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