Are nightclub king Nick Russian and Instagram queen Rozalia Melbourne’s new political power couple
Nightclub king Nick Russian and Instagram queen Rosalia Russian are set to become our newest political power couple, with the bar-tsar to make an eleventh hour bid for Melbourne’s top job.
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The mayoral race has finally found its boogie!
Hotshot hospitality entrepreneur Nick Russian is set to be an eleventh hour candidate for lord mayor.
The bar-tsar will run on a platform to bring Melbourne back to life.
Our city sure could use some get up and go.
Premier Dan is mired in the quarantine fiasco and it’s no secret the Victorian Liberal Party is looking to swoop.
So, with October’s race to lead Town Hall looming, the party have been on the lookout for someone fresh and dynamic to represent their small business platform.
So they called in the Russian.
“I am certainly honoured to be approached to run. Small business has and will always be in my blood and I have worked in Melbourne for my whole life,” Russian told Page 13 on Friday.
“I will consider with my family in coming days.”
Long at the forefront of Melbourne’s entertainment and foodie culture, the dapper Liberal Party member has rubbed shoulders well into the night with the city’s who’s who, not to mention Kanye West and Britney Spears.
Owner of former after-dark celebrity haunt, Eve, with his brother Daniel, the Russians continue to helm Together Events and plan to open new CBD lounge, Bar Bambi. That’s if the COVID-19 restrictions ever lift.
Which is just the golden ticket the Liberals have been searching for.
With Melbourne’s hospitality industry on its knees and business owners in the CBD facing financial ruin, Russian knows how to walk their walk.
And, boy, can he talk the talk, but more of that later.
Page 13 hears he got a late night phone call on Wednesday night from senior people within the Liberal Party asking if he would consider running and that got the disco ball in motion.
Private donors are already lining up behind the scenes, with many in Melbourne’s business community on board.
A crack team of advisers have assembled including right-hand bro Daniel Russian, CBD business owner and celebrity hairdresser to the stars Joey Scandizzo, marketing guru Mitch Catlin and prominent AFL star turned-restaurant owner Paul Dimattina.
“Melbourne’s hospitality sector was acclaimed the world over. It is now decimated by the Andrews Government and we need someone like Nick who has been instrumental in the sector in this city to bring Melbourne back to life,” Lamaros’ Hotel owner Paul Dimattina told Page 13.
The Liberal Party traditionally does not formally endorse council election candidates, but they sense an opportunity given the crisis facing small business during the COVID-19 lockdown and Russian is believed to have there backing on an unofficial ticket.
“The quiet Victorians – the small business operators and their families – the fabric of Melbourne – have been forgotten. Rebuilding business must be a key to the city’s recovery and Nick’ has the runs on the board and respect for this,” a Liberal Party source whispered.
Russian is a long-time associate of deputy mayor Arron Wood and the word out of Town Hall is the two have already discussed both of their possible candidacies.
Wood has not declared he will run, but if you were the punting type you would say it was a sure thing and not if, but when.
Wood and his advertising executive wife Stephanie know how to make an entrance. But that pales in comparison to the Russians and doesn’t it all comes down to image?
Nick Russian, as a one-time model and Temptation Island reality show contestant, has the X Factor. So does his wife Rozalia Russian, a former ballerina who came to Australia as a toddler after fleeing the former Soviet Union.
With more than 250,000 followers, the fashion influencer and stylish mother-of-two is as well-known as her husband on social platforms.
Marrying in 2013 at South Melbourne’s swanky Luminare, Rosa was dressed by local haute couture designers of choice J’Aton, of course.
The Melbourne-made couple are now parents to Willow 6, and Kingston, 3.
Coping with public life would be a walk in the park for the high-flying well-heeled couple, well-attuned to pressing the flesh.
Russian says one of his strengths is that he can talk to anyone: “Whatever their background is, whether they’re the Lord Mayor or a garbo. I’ve got a good broad knowledge across many subjects. I can get a conversation going,” Russian said long before any seeds of becoming Lord Mayor were sown.
But the flashy facade hides Russian’s commitment to getting a job across the line. Born to Italian immigrant parents, Russian was pushed from an early age to work harder than anyone else.
“Dad’s always said, no one’s going to throw a bag of gold over your fence, so you’ve got to go out and make it yourself.”
Russian’s father grew up in the housing commission said his son. “So it’s always been a part of me – the harder you work, the luckier you get.”
To cope in COVID-19 times with no events on the horizon and nightclubs likely closed until 2021, the Russian brothers have turned their labour hire firm, Academy HR, into a coronavirus prevention cleaning service.
But lockdown also means time to dream big, this time moving into the Town Hall with mayoral nominations opening on September 17.
Russian wouldn’t look half bad in the mayoral robes.
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