Easily the standout interview last week was conducted by AFR fashion editor Lauren Sams, who had a captivating discussion with Australia’s premier clandestine style commentator, Fashion Critical.

For those unfamiliar, Fashion Critical is a pseudonymous satirist on social media, famous for her incisive yet fair critiques of red carpet attire, spanning events from the Brownlow to the Met Gala and more.

She is beloved by millennial women for her self-mocking manner. Unlike the harsh tabloids they knew in the past, her commentary has enough edge to provide a (mostly) guiltless chuckle at some fashion disasters frequently appearing on worst-dressed collections.

Men aren’t spared either, as drab suits are humorously likened to those worn by David Koch. Celebrities also count among her followers, with fans like Alex Perry and Monica Lewinsky.

But who is Fashion Critical? Sams didn’t give away her subject’s identity, signing an NDA as a condition of their interview. We have no such qualms.

And here’s the reveal: Fashion Critical is Dani Lombard. She’s a public relations expert—just as followers had suspected—with her own firm, Stark Raven, based in Mosman.

Her cover was blown once before – by a private investigator who connected the dots after she posted photos of herself at the Australian Open.

The exposé was quietly scrubbed after Lombard slid into their DMs with a polite request, but traces remain on gossip forums like Tattle Life.

Now, with a book on the way, we feel the nom de plume is unnecessary, which is why we’re saying what fashion and PR insiders have whispered for years.

Like so many faceless figures unmasked by sleuths, Lombard’s distinctive tattoo gave the game away.

A music note on her wrist was visible in her photo shoot for the AFR, and can also be seen in Lombard’s social media posts.

She hides it these days, but the internet never forgets.

What’s more, she has a favourite gold bracelet, often seen on her Instagram, that matches the one in the AFR profile. 

When we contacted Fashion Critical for comment this week, Inside Mail received perhaps the best response we’ve ever had land in our inbox. 

‘Thank you for your enquiry. Unfortunately, as it has only been 26 hours since I learned of the split between Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, I find your email insensitive and ill-timed to say the least,’ wrote Fashion Critical.

‘This morning, I straightened my hair with my GHD and cried while listening to country music and the Moulin Rouge soundtrack.

‘Until further notice, I’ll be taking some time to process my feelings around this devastating break-up and its impact on the red carpet.

‘Will Nicole be able to wear higher heels moving forward? Will Keith no longer require such sturdy boots? All we can do is turn inward, and hope that it all works out in the end.

‘Feel free to quote me directly.’ 

Making it rain 

Channel Seven’s Melbourne weather presenter Jane Bunn made headlines last week for her slimmed-down figure at the Brownlow Medal.

Perhaps anticipating any Ozempic talk, she attributed her weight loss to ‘prioritising my health’ in a cosy interview with the Herald Sun.

But here at Inside Mail, we’re less interested in her slender waistline and more intrigued by her bulging bank balance.

Our sources tell us Bunn is one of the top earners in her newsroom.

The meteorologist – once described as a thinking man’s crumpet – is said to earn $400,000 a year for presenting the weather bulletins. ‘She’s a good negotiator,’ we are told.

That doesn’t put her among the top earners in the TV news millionaires’ club, such as Karl Stefanovic, Ally Langdon, Peter Overton or Natalie Barr.

But it does put her ahead of the likes of Nine’s Richard Wilkins and Amelia Adams, and Seven’s Angela Cox and Rebecca Maddern.

Given her popularity with viewers, we reckon she’s worth every cent.

Pay storm brews at Seven

On the subject of Seven, an HR drama at the network’s Melbourne newsroom has made headlines this week.

It masks a bigger story about alleged staff underpayment at the media giant, poised to grow louder with the looming Seven West Media-Southern Cross merger.

Earlier this week, News Corp outlets reported that a journalist was allegedly stood down over mental health concerns – just days after she encouraged others to join a class-action lawsuit against the network which, if successful, could cost the company dearly.

The Australian broke the story, but the Herald Sun follow-up offered more detail – including claims the reporter audio-recorded a younger colleague, sent all-staff emails outside work hours, and told bosses she would drop her legal action if Seven sponsored her personal YouTube channel.

The Herald Sun quoted an unnamed senior Seven executive as saying the network ‘had genuine concerns’ for the reporter, who is now on sick leave, ‘that are not related to the class action’.

So what does the reporter make of these ‘genuine concerns’ for her welfare? Not much.

Christie Cooper seemingly identified herself as the journo at the centre of the story in a post to her thousands of followers on her public Instagram account on Monday, which she captioned:

‘A senior source at Channel 7 has just made comments to the Herald Sun about a senior reporter at Channel 7, apparently saying that she asked them to sponsor her YouTube channel (um… nope), that she made calls to them as late as midnight (hmm… nope!) and that she [recorded] a younger colleague. (Also… what?!)

‘I wonder what their motivation could be.’

In short, Cooper appears to believe Seven is trying to discredit her for her role in a lawsuit against the network over alleged staff underpayments worth millions.

For the record, Inside Mail does not suggest that’s the case, nor are we implying that Seven’s concerns for her wellbeing are anything but genuine.

Seven declined to comment. However, sources assured Inside Mail that the network did not brief against Cooper and that its concerns for her welfare are sincere.

Cooper wouldn’t comment, and Inside Mail notes her Instagram post is now deleted. 

As for the class action against Seven West Media, employment litigation firm Adero Law is investigating claims of underpayments, misclassification, unpaid breaks and unpaid overtime hours, according to the AFR.

Adero previously succeeded in an underpayment class action against hospitality group Merivale, which resulted in an $18million settlement.

Inside Mail understands that Cooper is not alone in seeking redress for alleged underpayment. Many other journalists have signed on, we’re told, from more than one Seven West Media outlet.

The network said in a statement last week: ‘Seven West Media is confident it is paying its news and current affairs employees appropriately and in line with the enterprise agreement and legislative obligations.’

We’ll see. 

Liberal duo’s Chinese burn

A street vox pop is giving the NSW Liberals a rare – and unwanted – viral moment.

While embattled Opposition Leader Mark Speakman insists he’s hanging on ’til 2027, he might want to consider enrolling his MPs in a crash course on unscripted media.

Because what started as a breezy Q&A with Chinese travel vlogger Henry turned into a viral trainwreck for pollies Tim James and Rachel Merton.

Henry served up the softest of softballs, ‘What’s the biggest issue facing the community?’

And what did our Liberal duo deliver? A dribbly word salad of ‘cost of living’, ‘investor confidence’, and ‘affordable, reliable energy’ – all served with a side of zero specifics.

Inspiring.

But then came the twist. Henry handed the mic to an older gentleman who absolutely stole the show. When asked about the MPs, he didn’t hold back:

‘They’re not here to run the country. They’re here to get elected.’

He went on to accuse politicians of all stripes of serving donors over voters, and even clashed with James over the war in Gaza.

One viewer roasted Merton with this zinger: ‘Obviously she’s bilingual – English and Nonsense!’

Over on Chinese social platform RedNote, Merton’s face lighting up when she realised they were speaking to influencers was immortalised in a meme.

Henry’s three clips have already racked up nearly 800,000 views on Instagram alone, and thousands more across other platforms. Politicians, beware.

Inside Mail understands the video has also been doing the rounds among fellow Liberal MPs, who are not impressed by the pair’s performance.

New MAFS boss

It’s a new dawn for Married At First Sight.

For months, TV insiders have been speculating who would step into the power vacuum left by departing executive producer John Walsh.

Now, Inside Mail can reveal the Channel Nine man steering H.M.S. MAFS into its thirteenth season: Andrew Peace, the network’s long-serving creative director of programming.

Walsh quietly wrapped his TV career in May, farewelling Nine after a blockbuster 31-year run that saw him launch Getaway, bring The Voice to Australia, and guide MAFS through nearly a decade of scandal, tears and ratings gold.

In retirement, he has turned his hand to travel writing for Nine.com.au.

Daily Mail senior reporter and former paparazzo Ali Daher has been knee-deep in the MAFS drama this year, doing his yearly reconnaissance as filming takes place in Sydney’s Green Square.

So far, the cast have only praise for Peace – whose surname is deliciously ironic given the bedlam he’s now presiding over.

‘Andrew is amazing – he was there a few times during the big nights and he was just so nice to me,’ one bride said.

‘You can tell he really cares about how the show comes across. He’s not just ticking boxes – he actually talks to you and makes you feel seen.’

Peace is no stranger to the MAFS machine.

He’s been one of Nine’s top creative minds for nearly two decades, masterminding campaigns that turned formats like The Voice and MAFS into household names.

Before joining Nine, he held senior posts at Foxtel, Seven and Ten, where he masterminded rebrands and launched network-defining shows.

Industry insiders say his appointment to lead MAFS was ‘inevitable’ after Walsh’s exit.

‘Andrew knows the brand inside out and he’s got the respect of both the network and the talent,’ one Nine source said.

‘That balance is rare – and exactly what MAFS needs as it enters season 13.’

But Peace won’t be steering the ship solo.

He will work alongside Kate Paul from production company EndemolShine Australia, who has taken the reins while Alex Spurway is on maternity leave.

Suspicious minds at Sky News 

Freya Leach‘s week is fast going from bad to worse.

First, her show was axed after a bacon-draped guest unleashed inflammatory anti-Muslim remarks live on air.

Now, suspicious minds at Sky News HQ in Macquarie Park are wondering why some of the fallout coverage was seemingly skewed in Leach’s favour.

Word is, someone may have quietly briefed SMH media writer Calum Jaspan with intel that shifted blame from Leach to a supposed lack of managerial oversight.

And frankly, we can see why eyebrows are being raised.

Jaspan reported that Sky News ‘had no senior editors or managers on hand to vet the show’s guest’ ahead of the September 21 live show, ‘leaving 22-year-old Leach and her sole junior producer to allow the guest’s comments to go to air live and unchecked’.

The claim was attributed to ‘two sources with knowledge of the matter, but not authorised to speak publicly’.

Later in the piece, a ‘Sky staffer’ suggested that Leach had been ‘let down by management, giving her a show with little experience and then failing to have adequate processes in place to prevent an event like this happening’.

It certainly paints Leach and her producer as (relatively) innocent bystanders in the whole mess, doesn’t it?

Now, there’s chatter about leaks and off-the-record briefings to journos. And in our experience, these kinds of witch hunts rarely end well.

For their part, Sky News Australia denies there were no senior staff present that fateful Sunday. Quite the opposite: it was a senior producer who stepped in when the show started going off the rails.

To be clear, Inside Mail isn’t accusing Leach or her producer of leaking – only noting that insiders at Sky News reckon the briefing to the SMH did seem a little like it was covering their arses.

As for how Leach is holding up, we hear the anti-woke firebrand – who proudly casts herself as the antidote to Gen Z snowflakery – is actually pretty rattled by it all.

Hang in there, Freya. Make it through the week and you’ll be fine.

Sky News Australia and Jaspan were contacted for comment.

Modern politics in a nutshell 

We don’t usually discuss local council politics here at Inside Mail (who cares, right?) but we’ll break that rule today.

Shoalhaven Council’s appointment of Andrew Constance as general manager is the sort of thing that gives politics a bad name.

Here’s a bloke who’s failed more times at winning his way into federal parliament than almost anyone else, yet somehow he lands one of the most senior local government jobs on the NSW South Coast.

No real management pedigree, nor time spent in the public bureaucracy, but plenty of sitting in state parliament.

And then there’s Labor’s Fiona Phillips, who’s up in arms about his lack of local government background. Really? That’s the line to try to bring him down?

We know Constance’s high-level experience far exceeds what’s needed for a council role, rendering Phillips’ complaints about his lack of specific council experience redundant. The man has been state treasurer and finance minister, among other portfolio responsibilities – all with budgets much bigger than that of Shoalhaven Council.

This isn’t about experience – it’s about entitlement. The old mates’ club doing what it does best.

Constance loses elections and instead of taking the hint, he’s rewarded with a taxpayer-funded consolation prize – one that’s expected to pay him more than he ever earned as a minister, by the way.

And Phillips, rather than nailing him for all of that, opts for the weakest possible critique available. Both sides managed to miss the point: one proves the system is broken – the other proves its parliamentary inhabitants are clueless.

If this is what passes for modern politics, no wonder the public tunes out. A recycled politician and a hollow opponent: a perfect summary of Aussie politics in miniature.

READ THE LATEST FROM DAILYMAIL+

Here are some great stories you may have missed: