Annette Sharp: How Clarke-Yarbrough romance unfolded in Packer power circle
For four months Michael Clarke’s romance with Jade Yarbrough grew and developed but always at the edges of their relationship were links to James Packer and his main man Ben Tilley, writes Annette Sharp.
Confidential
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For four dizzy months, Michael Clarke and Jade Yarbrough must have looked at each other and seen – if not the loves of each other’s lives – then at least a flicker of something familiar that made a longer-term relationship look possible.
In 41-year-old Clarke, the younger sister of model-turned shoe-designer Jasmine would see a celebrated sporting hero and self-made man who could elevate the interior designer’s profile and deliver the kind of financial security her sister had found with television’s highest-paid loose cannon, Stefanovic.
In Yarbrough, a love-struck Clarke may have seen a discreet and attractive companion who, via her marriage to Stefanovic, could mix easily in the social circles he courted, including Stefanovic’s enduring chum James Packer.
In recent months Clarke has been celebrating and even promoting his strengthened ties to Packer’s circle of trust.
In August the retired Australian cricket captain posted a photograph to social media showing him in a tight embrace in Europe with Packer’s live-in confidante Ben Tilley – the man this columnist once dubbed the “billionaire’s babysitter” and who these days can almost pass as being the reclusive Packer’s social media avatar.
The friendship between Clarke and Tilley came as a shock to Clarke’s associates who were unaware of his connection to Packer, who is said to have been left devastated by the death of his close friend Shane Warne last year.
Warne’s death it seems may have left a vacancy for a cricketer in Packer’s tight circle, providing a rare opportunity for Clarke who also called Warne his friend.
Last month Stefanovic also appeared on social media cuddling Tilley, albeit via an Instagram post from Jade.
Jade has wasted no time in seizing her opportunity to publicly celebrate her new membership to Packer’s inner sanctum.
After joining her sister and brother-in-law at Packer’s Aspen home at Christmas, she deftly posted three images taken inside the Packer chalet.
Last week sources claimed Packer was displeased with the interior designer’s posts, though they remained online on Friday.
In truth the Yarbrough sisters have been orbiting Packer for years.
One-time Brisbane party girl Jasmine is rumoured to have been introduced to Stefanovic in 2016 by fellow Queenslander Rob Rankin, Packer’s then trusted lieutenant, chairman of Crown Resorts and CEO of his private company Consolidated Press Holdings, a hook-up which might suggest the match had Packer’s blessing.
In March 2018 Stefanovic and Yarbrough would pledge their love for one another in a commitment ceremony at Rankin’s Palm Beach mansion. The ceremony occurred a year after Rankin stepped down from Crown Resorts and from CPH in January 2017, with Packer at the time heaping praise on the investment banker: “I trust and respect him as much today as ever and we remain the closest of friends.”
By the time an independent inquiry into Crown’s suitability to hold a casino licence in NSW was held in 2020 – including an investigation into Rankin’s role in the arrest of 19 Crown employees in China in 2016 – Rankin, who took a hit after declining to participate in the inquiry, had taken refuge in a seven-bedroom mansion in the Cotswolds in Britain while dealing with the breakdown of his own marriage to Paula Boff, the mother of his two children.
Taking a leaf out of Stefanovic’s book, it’s understood Rankin has since bounced back with a new relationship with a new baby. How unexpected.
What Clarke’s break-up with Jade Yarbrough will now mean to the ex-cricket captain’s social reputation remains to be seen but sources are convinced his relationship with Packer has taken a direct hit, with Packer choosing to side with the man who forever may be known as “Karlos ya c--t” after Clarke dubbed Stefanovic thus during an ugly argument with Jade outside a Noosa restaurant this month.
Csortan and J-Bish chill out on the slopes
Sighted beating a sweaty path on the Colorado ski trails last week were fitness-fanatic Julie Bishop and former TV travel show presenter and veteran bikini model Laura Csortan.
While Bishop was buttering up handsome blue-eyed ski instructor “Todd” on her Instagram feed from Vail – “Say hi, Todd,” she directs the compliant “Todd” – Csortan was hitting the slopes in Aspen.
Csortan, who was last sighted possibly having a blub on accountant Anthony Bell’s boat on the waters off Greece last year, looks to be currently on the James Packer trail of the Americas.
After spending a week in Aspen, the serially single Csortan headed to Mexico last week and midweek posted from San Jose Del Cabo, a mere 45-minute drive to Packer’s lavish waterfront compound.
“Mexico has her now,” she captioned her post, delighting her predominantly all-male Instagram following which includes faithful fans Michael Clarke and TV sports presenter Mark Beretta who, between them, seldom miss a chance to “like” a picture of Csortan in a bikini.
Seven’s sticking with Ant
Is the controversial host of Seven Network’s SAS Australia, Ant Middleton, betting the house on an Australian-based career revival?
It would appear so following news reports in his native UK this month claiming the former army sniper was forced to liquidate his company Middleton Global Limited last year after allegedly stiffing the British tax authority of $2m.
According to The Sun, before shutting down his company in the run-up to Christmas, Middleton took out a large director’s loan worth in excess of $4.7m – the repayment of which was documented as being “uncertain”.
Despite an avalanche of negative press in the UK following Middleton’s sacking by UK’s Channel 4, Seven has doubled down on the reality show star who was dismissed by Channel 4 for making controversial comments on the coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter which came on the back of reports Middleton had made “lewd and suggestive comments” to women working on the station’s SAS: Who Dares Wins.
He had been previously forced to deny being “sleazy” to women after The Sun reported he’d been overheard telling a contestant he wanted to have sex with her during filming.
But none of this seems to concern Seven which might be getting Middleton cheap given reports of his financial issues.
Seven has signed Middleton to host its new reality show Million Dollar Island as well as return as the host of SAS Australia.
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