John Singleton lends his face to ex-girlfriend’s beauty brand
Nine months after worrying family and friends with his conviction he was on his last legs, legendary adman John Singleton has reunited with a former flame.
Entertainment
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He’s not generally known for his supple skin and is unlikely to have been described as “pretty” since the bombing of Darwin in ’42 but legendary adman John Singleton evidently isn’t yet ready to surrender to his maker.
Nine months after worrying family and friends with his conviction he was on his last legs, the 81-year-old looks to have made a miraculous recovery.
Sources last week insisted the turnaround owed less to the influence of Singo’s live-in girlfriend Kim Dennis – recent ex of radio commentator Steve Price – than to the support of a broader network of rusted-on mates, including Hungry Jack’s boss Jack Cowin, who recently played host to Singleton on his superyacht off Norway.
Another mate is former girlfriend and professional makeup artist Yvette Hartman, with whom Singleton split a decade ago.
After a period of estrangement, the old friends have recently reconnected.
Forced to shut the doors on her makeup business two years ago due to the pandemic, Hartman retrained as a nurse before deciding she wasn’t quite finished with the makeup business and relaunching herself along with her own skincare and beauty range Face Mechanic, the business name she inherited some 25 years ago from her late uncle, TV and film makeup artist Robert Wasson.
All Hartman needed to give her brand a push was a known “face” to help promote the new range.
Enter John Singleton – in shorts, Croc sandals and with a bandage on one leg – to bring his legendary marketing might to the project.
While Singleton might strike most beauty industry guns as an unconventional choice to play ambassador for a premium beauty range, a hastily shot home video of the bemused Singleton test-driving products is this month creating a subversive stir on social media.
In the clip, shot by Hartman’s daughter Demi, Hartman smears cream on Singo’s crevassed face while he inquires of his ex-girlfriend if her products will make him look younger.
“We’re fading the ageing,” Hartman tells her amiable model.
“We’re losing!” Singleton shoots back. “I’d like to look younger. I’d like to have my skin glow glow glow with health health health,” he tells the make-up artist, who explains her new product range of creams and cosmetics are manufactured in Canada.
“Never mind,” Singo says, consoling his ex, who he later accuses of trying to “pick (him) up”. “How long does it last, this stuff?” he asks, vigorously rubbing the product in.
“That depends on how much you need,” Hartman replies.
“I’ll have a bucket,” Singleton says.
On Thursday, the former ad boss who made his name flogging Tooheys, the ALP, Buttercup Bakeries and Udson with an Haitch, was looking somewhat rejuvenated while spruiking the rebrand of his latest pub venture, Gosford’s Railway Bar and Steakhouse Hotel.
Initially called The Bon Pavilion and located in Singleton’s Gosford development Bonython Tower, the venue opened to much fanfare in 2019 with a $4 million fit-out (courtesy of Singo’s personal interior designer Michelle Leslie) and a steak and oysters menu.
But having failed to resonate with locals, the venue has now been reborn as a burgers and beer “pub” complete with second expensive redesign.
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