‘Poor imitation’ highlights gulf between Sydney and Melbourne

A new TV show is set to highlight the dramatic and sometimes bitter differences between Sydney and Melbourne when it comes to our homes.

A new TV show is set to highlight the dramatic and sometimes bitter differences between Sydney and Melbourne when it comes to our homes.

It’s set to be Bleak City’s poor imitation of Luxe Listings Sydney, with Listing Melbourne launching on Channel 9 this week apparently with its own Gavin Rubinstein.

Lookalike agent Fraser Lack stars in the series in what’s been billed as showcasing the “glamorous, high-stakes world of Melbourne’s luxury real estate market”.

Listing Melbourne reputedly “pulls back the curtain on one of the world’s most dynamic property markets, where opulent homes, multimillion-dollar deals and cutthroat competition are the daily reality for five elite estate agents”.

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Agent Fraser Lack will hit the screens on Channel 9’s Listing Melbourne. Picture: Instagram

Lack, who started his career in the family agency just five years ago, has sold 15 properties in the past year at a $935,000 median price, according to his realestate.com.au profile, along with another 30 in conjunction with his estate agent father, David. His credited sales have ranged from $227,000 for an art deco studio space to a $2.9m mansion. The 25-year-old reckons his beard helps with the challenge of being seen as too young.

A Nine Entertainment news article gushed that Lack’s “deep knowledge of the local market, innovative marketing strategies and personal management of every sale campaign have earned him a reputation for delivering premium outcomes”.

Lack’s real claim to fame is that he featured last year on Survivor Australia, the Channel 10 show, in its Heroes v Villains series, resplendent with his tatts.

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Lack has previously featured on Survivor Australia.

The viewing public’s popular Google search queries for both Lack and Rubinstein seek out their respective heights. Lack says he is 5.7ft high and weighs 62kg.

“I’m 5.1, maybe 5.2, if I wear boots,” Rubinstein, whose current median sale price is $6.25m, once jokingly advised.

Lack, with 14,000 followers on Instagram, has a way to catch up to Rubinstein’s 84,000. Like Rubinstein, Lack’s Instagram promotes his fitness regime. “I try my best to be at the gym by 5.32am.”

They both also promote their tailor-made suits, although Lack’s go nameless.

Lack doesn’t mention Rubinstein when he lists his mentors as being Josh Fagan, Tom Panos and Marty Fox.

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Lack’s median sale price pales in comparison so Gavin Rubinstein.

“I don’t believe in imitation,” he stressed in a recent podcast.

He has been stalked by the anonymous Lords of Property Instagram page, with Lack telling The Upshot Podcast by Homely that the “toxic and negative” postings “had hurt”.

“But now, going through that scrutiny and ridicule, I feel untouchable and it has made me who I am today,” he said.

It was Homely’s Ben Williams who first advised: “I see you as the Victorian Gavin Rubinstein.”

Produced by Abode Entertainment, Listing Melbourne also features another agent with just five years’ experience, Diana Kozlowska at Shape Property, who has a $660,000 sale median.

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Luxe Listings Sydney, featuring Monika Tu, Simon Cohen, D’Leanne Lewis and Gavin Rubinstein, has been shuttered.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video’s Luxe Listings Sydney, which also featured veterans Monika Tu, D’Leanne Lewis and Simon Cohen, has been officially shuttered.

“One of the producers argued with the other producer, and I just said, it’s too hard, shut the whole thing down,” KIIS broadcaster Kyle Sandilands, the brains behind the series, told Kyle & Jackie O Show listeners this week.

Sandilands then let slip “we’re making a new one” but his manager Bruno Bouchet declined to elaborate about it.

Listing Melbourne launch (L-R) Tabitha Robb, Diana Kozlowska, Fraser Lack, Nicole Jacobs and Andrew Campbell. Picture: Fiona Hamilton Photography

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Originally published as ‘Poor imitation’ highlights gulf between Sydney and Melbourne