Fiona Byrne’s celeb news wrap up: ‘Intimate shop’ splurge on Howie’s stolen card

$350 on flowers. $800 at an “intimate shop in Bondi”. When these weird transactions started showing up on Mark Howard’s bank account it was clear something was amiss.

Craig Hutchison had a hell ride to the top at Lord’s. Picture: Jay Town

Triple M’s Mark ‘Howie’ Howard has been a victim of credit card fraud with the crooks attempting to blow thousands on airfares, flowers and at an “intimate shop in Bondi.”

Howard and his wife discovered their card had been compromised after weird transactions started appearing from Sydney business while they were on a recent holiday in Noosa.

“Ubers in Sydney, $800 at a Bondi boutique, $3000 on a travel company, $350 on flowers within a 24 hour period,” Howie revealed to the Triple M Huddle team on Friday, placing the total spend by the thieves at between $4500 and $5000.

Mark ‘Howie’ Howard has been a victim of credit card fraud.

He said it was while he and his wife were having dinner on their break and were trying to get their head around the strange charges on their joint card that Westpac rang.

The bank had contacted them after flagging the transactions as suspicious and suspecting the couple were being fleeced by ne’er-do-wells who had got hold of their credit card details.

“They said they would refund it all, we can see that you have not been in these places,” he said.

Howie praised the actions of Westpac when contacted on Saturday.

“Westpac did a great job and it was all wrapped up in 24 hours,” he said.

Good Lord! Hutchy’s elevator hell a real test

Sports radio boss Craig Hutchison has told of his terror of lifts after being trapped in a hot stuffy elevator that lurched precariously between floors at London’s famous Lord’s test.

Hutchison was at Lord’s for the match last month and was taking guests up to the SEN broadcast point in the media centre when the lift lost the plot.

“I had a look at the lift as I got in and it had the maximum kilos (sign) on the left,” he recalled on The Sounding Board podcast.

“I thought, ‘Oh, that is never a good sign’.

“It (the lift) is only small and it probably holds six and the seventh or eighth person got in just as the doors were shutting, so there was no way to say, ‘No, no, don’t get in,’ so there are eight crammed in the lift.

“It got halfway up and then, ‘Boom’, the lift crashed.

“Here I am stuck, hovering in mid air at Lord’s about 10m below the commentary boxes and about 10m above ground level.”

Craig Hutchison endured an elevator meltdown. Picture: Jay Town

Hutchison claims he went into leadership mode, reassuring his fellow lift passengers that everything was okay while privately thinking: “It is a disaster.”

“(There was) no space to move, it is hot. There are a couple of panickers in the lift,” he told the podcast.

“I hit the button and it would go about a metre and a half and crash again, a metre and a half and crash again, so it is crashing under the weight of which I am clearly contributing too.”

Maybe if Hutchison kindly offers a ride in a lift, take the stairs.

He has had a run of outs with the conveyances

“I have been trapped in three lifts in my life, one in Russia during the world cup which was horrible,” he recounted.

“The second one was Halloween at Soho House in New York in costume; ten people in costume, stuck in a close space.

“The bloke came in through the little hole in the roof and you had to climb to safety to the next floor.”

He escaped from his Lord’s horror in under half an hour.

Sam’s brothel blunder

Podcaster Sam Newman has told of mistaking a brothel for a golf club while former Western Bulldogs great Luke Darcy has revealed he politely exited a Sydney establishment after suspecting the massage therapy being offered was not quite what it seemed in a weekend of stunning confessions from ex footy giants.

Sam Newman isn’t the only Melburnian who has got confused on his way to the fairway. Picture: Nicole Cleary

Newman was rightly confused when a trip to the Westgate Golf Club started with him trying to sign in for 18 holes at a legal brothel.

“Dally Messenger (legendary Melbourne celebrant) invited me to play golf with him and some friends at the Westgate Golf Course in Yarraville,” Newman said.

“I plugged the location into the navigator, followed the directions and pulled up outside a building marked office, with the golf course at the doorstep.

“I went in and asked the lady at reception how much it was for four of us to play.

“She said, ‘it is $75’. I said ‘for four of us?’ and she said ‘each’, which surprised me.

“I questioned if that was for 18, meaning holes, and she said yes they are 18, which struck me as a bit odd.

“Then she asked if we wanted any specials, saying that was $90.

“At that point I asked if this was the office for the golf course and she said ‘No, that is over the other side of the bridge’.”

He left.

“It turns out plenty of people make the same mistake because of navigation systems and end up confused at the reception of that business, rather than the golf course. They are very used to it,” he said.

Newman blames his car’s navigator for winding up at a brothel. Picture: Aaron Francis

Meanwhile Darcy was ribbed by his Triple M Huddle mates for finding himself where he did not want to be while in Sydney on a birthday trip.

“We may have dropped into a massage (place),” he reluctantly told the Friday Huddle.

“Bec (his wife) suggested it, 100 per cent, and I was a little lukewarm on the idea.

“We went and sat down. Fair to say the procession of men that came out from behind the curtains was a little unnerving.

“I would not cast aspersions anywhere, but I felt a little uncomfortable.

“I said ‘do you sense a sort of consistency in the clientele coming in … surely not.”

They made a polite exit.

Phillips’ fairytale

Fresh from a European adventure with Hollywood A-listers Matt Damon and Chris and Liam Hemsworth, Lauren Phillips is venturing into the unknown.

The KIIS FM breakfast host is stepping into the realms of magic, fairytales and high romance in the stage musical Midnight: The Cinderella Musical.

Phillips, who co-hosts the Jase & Lauren Show with Jase Hawkins, will join the production for a one night only performance as Cinderella.

“This is my professional musical theatre debut – possibly my debut and retirement all at once,” Phillips said, admitting she was way out of comfort zone.

Phillips at a dress rehearsal for Midnight: The Cinderella Musical. Picture: Rebecca Michael

“At rehearsals on Friday, I was ready to be dressed as Cinderella and then I got there and I am in the wench dress from before she turns into a princess.

“I did not even get the glass slippers. I am barefoot and looking tragic.”

The cameo has stemmed from Phillips disclosing on air that she had never rued missing out on the role of Cinderella in her primary school play.

“I ended up in this dorky role in my school play in Year Four as the court jester where I had to dress as a clown and sit on the side of the stage and hold a sign saying ‘boo or clap’,” she said.

“When the Cinderella musical came to Melbourne, I did not know this was taking place, but certain people were behind the scenes trying to make this happen so I could finally get my redemption.”

Phillips will have her princess moment when she takes to the stage on Tuesday, July 18.

She recently spent her mid-year radio ratings break in Europe with her partner Paul O’Brien.

The couple were snapped partying in Mykonos with their close friends Matt Damon and his wife Luciana Barroso, Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky and Liam Hemsworth and his partner Gabriella Brooks.

Our other Aussie Barbie trailblazer

As Barbie-mania coast the world pink, it turns out Margot Robbie is not the only Aussie to have had an influence on the doll.

Margot Robbie at the Seoul Premiere of Barbie. Picture: Getty

In what seems a forgotten chapter in the Barbie story, the plastic blonde beauty gave her beau, Ken, the boot back in 2004 for an Australian surfer doll named Blaine.

Mattel, Barbie’s maker, announced in February 2004 that Barbie and Ken had split.

After more than 2 million fans logged on to Barbie.com to help Barbie find a new bloke, Blaine, described as a “hot Australian hunk” was announced as the mystery ‘man’ helping Barbie mend her broken heart.

In this strange toy town alternative universe, Blaine had a backstory. He was an Australian boogie-boarder, who lived and surfed in Hawaii for a few years before moving to the US to become a west coast wave-rider.

Barbie once dumped Ken for an Aussie surfer dude doll called Blaine. Picture: Supplied

Robbie isn’t the only Aussie to have had an influence on Barbie. Picture: Getty

He was also the older brother of Barbie’s friend, Summer.

Blaine’s moment in the sun ended in 2011 when it was announced that Ken and Barbie had rekindled their romance.

Meanwhile, there was also an Australian Barbie released in the 90s as part of the Barbie, Dolls of the World collection. Australian Barbie wore “an outfit typical of a jillaroo (female rancher) in the outback.”

The Barbie movie Melbourne Premiere will be held in Camberwell on Monday.

Was Hills drugged when robbed on Italian train?

Comedian Adam Hills and his wife Ali McGregor have taken to social media warning Australians to keep their wits about them after being robbed on an overnight train while holidaying in Italy.

Australian comedian Adam Hills was robbed on a train to Venice.

Hills tweeted speculation that the thieves may have used a substance to make sure they didn’t wake up while the pilfering occurred.

“Lock your door with both locks on the night train to Venice. Our compartment was broken into while we slept and some of our stuff was stolen,” he wrote.

He said train guards had told them this type of theft “happens every day”.

“Our tour guide told us they sometimes use gas to make you sleep more solidly,” the Spicks and Specks host wrote.

“The weird thing is, someone knocked on our door around 4.30am. They may have even opened the door. We can’t be sure.

“We slept super solidly for the next two hours and woke dazed, groggy and missing a backpack and a bumbag.

“So to reiterate: Venice is beautiful but be sure to lock both your locks on the night train.”

McGregor shared her frustration on Instagram.

“Enjoy this smug photo of my free sparkling wine on the sleeper train to Venice a few short hours before someone broke into our couchette as we slept and stole my backpack and handbag with our passports and my wedding rings and all sorts of great stuff that I love,” McGregor posted.