Post-European tour, this is how Justin Hemmes celebrated his actual 50th

Despite extravagant social media posts from friends and staff members, it wasn’t all champagne showers for Merivale frontman Justin Hemmes’ 50th birthday celebrations.

Emerald City is told the doting father-of-two spent last Saturday evening with members of his close circle including best friend and live-in resident Greg Magree, girlfriend Madeline Holtznagel, interior designer sister Bettina, as well as his daughters Alexa and Sachi (whom he shares with ex-partner Kate Fowler), for a low-key evening at his sprawling harbour front estate, The Hermitage.

Friends close to the restaurateur told Emerald City that Hemmes and his 26-year-old model girlfriend had just returned from a trip to Europe – visiting Mykonos, Ibiza and Egypt – and decided to kick up their heels on his birthday.

“They just got back from Europe; I’d say they’re all partied out,” the friend revealed, adding “His actual birthday was a super chill night with mostly family”.

A day after blowing out 50 birthday candles, Hemmes had his hands full at the community opening event at Allianz Stadium, where Merivale group has the exclusive hospitality contract. Emerald City spied the busy bar tsar on the night managing staff accompanied by daughter Alexa.

Days later he was thrown a surprise party at his Ivy nightclub in the CBD with some 250 staff donning party hats adorned with their fearless leader’s face, toasting with cake and cocktails.

Guy and Jules go house shopping in the Southern Highlands

With the Southern Highlands fast becoming a celebrity hot-spot, it seems you can barely go out to eat these days without running into a star from stage or screen.

Diners and staff at Caffe Rosso in Bowral were delighted when former Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian popped in for a bite last week during a visit to the area. Caffe Rosso is understood to be popular among locals including charity cheerleader and philanthropist Skye Leckie, who owns property in nearby Robertson.

Emerald City is told Sebastian, 40 and his down-to-earth stylist-cum-influencer wife Jules are toying with the idea of purchasing a country weekender in the Southern Highlands for their young family.

The former Idol winner delighted staff and patrons at Caffe Rosso in Bowral last week.Credit: Instagram

Expanding his property portfolio down south follows his showstopping performance at Allianz Stadium’s community opening last week and the end of a messy trial involving his ex-manager Titus Day, who was accused of embezzling nearly a million dollars from his pop star client. Day was found guilty on 34 of 47 charges (relating to embezzling $624,675.41) in July.

While Byron Bay with its warmer weather has claimed the Hemsworth clan, the Southern Highlands has homes belonging to Atlassian boss Mike Cannon-Brookes and wife Annie, influencer Phoebe Burgess, and former Sunrise anchor and new Farmer Wants a Wife host Samantha Armytage.

Even Nicole Kidman and her country crooner husband Keith Urban own a property in the region: Bunya Hill at Sutton Forest.

Georgia sets tongues wagging

Georgia Fowler celebrated a belated 30th birthday.Credit: instagram

Newly-engaged catwalk queen Georgia Fowler has set tongues wagging after friends shared a series of loved-up social media posts celebrating her recent engagement to Nathan Dalah in Fiji.

Last week, the New Zealand model who has strutted the Victoria’s Secret runway and now calls Australia home, was spotted on social media sporting a white mini-dress, sipping cocktails, and embracing her restaurateur fiance in a series of videos from the soiree.

Friends close to the couple, who welcomed daughter Dylan Aman Dalah last September, say the Fijian party was also a belated celebration for both their birthdays.

Nathan is the co-founder of seafood fast food chain Fishbowl, which specialises in made-to-order Japanese-style salads, alongside Nic Pestalozzi and Casper Ettelson. The trio opened their first restaurant in Bondi in 2016 and have quickly expanded across the country. This year the chain is set to make $60 million in revenue.

Fowler announced the couple’s engagement on Instagram, revealing her boyfriend of two years proposed during a photoshoot for Tiffany & Co. She was shooting a campaign called ‘Tiffany Love’ when Nathan, 27, dropped to one knee on set.

Emerald City revealed the couple’s courtship back in 2020. At the time, her older sister Kate was in a relationship with Justin Hemmes.

Since then, the pair has fast become one of Sydney’s power couples, living in east Point Piper. Nathan was estimated to have a net worth of more than $1 million, according to reports from last year while IMG-backed Georgia was ranked in the world’s top 50 highest-paid models in 2020.