The great eastern suburbs civil war: High society snitch reveals why Sydney’s elites are suddenly falling out with each other… and one housewife is a repeat offender

There’s never a dull moment in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

But behind the scenes of the Vaucluse mansion parties, Double Bay brunches and Mimi’s long lunches, there is a shady side to this particular elite social scene. 

The feuds.

While some socialites are often seen arm-in-arm at ritzy events flaunting their wealth and status, there are others who refuse to even be in the same room as each other.

In recent months, there have been some spectacular fallings-out within the privileged harbourside cliques.  

Our regular society snitch – a well-informed member of the in-crowd – has revealed the most noteworthy rivalries, and they are causing quite the stir…

Cartia Mallan and Ashton Wood

Known as ‘Brisfluencers’, these influencers from Brisbane had a combined social media following of more than a million. 

They built a lucrative empire by sharing everything from their favourite sex positions to their dating dramas on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and their podcast Common Chaos.

But last October, amid frantic questions from fans, Cartia and Ashton, who both live in London, mysteriously cancelled a real-life business venture they’d been working on together.

Just three months after its launch, with zero explanation, the Gen-Z stars’ brand Highline – which sold matcha, a trendy green tea – was no more.

And after months of speculation, we were recently told that Cartia and Ashton, who once described each other as family and for a decade vowed nothing could break their bond, had fallen out over a man.

A source close to the pair said: ‘Ashton rekindled a friendship with Cartia’s ex-boyfriend from back home in Australia, Josh Heuston, and it was the ultimate betrayal for Cartia.

‘When it all ended with Josh, Cartia was heartbroken, and Ashton was seriously there for her. She became Cartia’s lifeline and it really brought them closer. They had this crazy single-girl summer and really bonded.

‘So now for Ashton to be friends with him, Cartia just can’t get her head around it and couldn’t face continuing the matcha company with her. There were some other factors – but that was one of them.’

Elle Salagaras and Cindy Kilian

Elle Salagaras, better known as ‘EasternSuburbsMum’ on social media, and Cindy Kilian, who goes by ‘RegardingCindy’, had been friends for years before falling out a few months ago.

The feud supposedly began when one of the women made serious allegations about being the victim of an assault, and then objected to her friend’s reaction.

While there’s no way of confirming exactly what went down in this case of she-said-she-said, the fact the pair no longer follow each other on Instagram says it all.

The story we’ve heard from our spies is that Elle shared a personal story over dinner at a restaurant and was disappointed with the response from Cindy.

This was apparently the final straw for their friendship.

At the time, Elle told her side of the story in an episode of her podcast ‘Ellefluential’. She made reference to the row, but did not mention Cindy by name.

She claimed she’d been assaulted at a restaurant and, as a result, her friends refused to dine there anymore. But when Cindy heard about the alleged incident, she indicated she would continue to visit the venue, which cannot be named for legal reasons.

Ellie Aitken and Hollie Nasser

Hollie Nasser shocked Sydney high society in late 2021 when her affair with investment banker Charlie Aitken, the husband of her best friend Ellie, was made public, leading to a spectacular breakdown of two marriages.

Complicating things further was the fact Charlie was in business with Hollie’s investor husband, Chris ‘CJ’ Nasser.

Hollie and Charlie’s romance came to a halt in May 2022 when she confirmed their break-up in a statement.

‘With regards to my private life, my focus is my daughters, I have chosen not to be in a relationship,’ she said.

‘Chris has always been a loving and devoted father. We are working together to co-parent our children.

‘The past nine months have been very difficult and I have expressed my apologies to my family and others involved.’

Hollie later embarked on a brief relationship with finance executive James Hodgman, launching their romance at a racing event in November 2022.

But their love was short-lived after Hodgman was allegedly embroiled in a separate eastern suburbs brouhaha in February 2023, which was understood to be the reason behind the split.

Victoria Montano and Martine Chippendale 

The almighty falling-out between Real Housewives of Sydney stars Victoria Montano and Martine Chippendale recently sent shockwaves through Sydney’s east.

The two women, who live on the same street in ritzy Darling Point, used to be inseparable. But their rivalry is now so intense, both women are pulling out of events at the last minute to avoid bumping into each other. 

Their feud apparently began when Victoria discovered Martine, a self-styled ‘life-size Barbie’ and wife of retired banker John Wilson, had been gossiping about her to the other Real Housewives stars.

If true, it would be quite the betrayal as Victoria had been the one help secure Martine a spot on RHOS by introducing her to influential society types and pulling strings with friends in media.

By the time the cast began filming episode three of the new season, Victoria, who is the owner of fashion label Sport Luxe, was left ‘fuming’ after being told Martine had been bitching about her. 

Terry Biviano and Victoria Montano

Victoria is a repeat offender when it comes to society feuds. She is also at the centre of a feud with another Real Housewives of Sydney co-star, Terry Biviano.

The feud between these two warring socialites erupted at a star-studded birthday party hosted by socialite Elaine Kwan last week.

Terry and Victoria had an almighty row in front of a Who’s Who of eastern suburbs elites, including the aforementioned Ellie Aitken and Alina Barlow, the daughter of Russian billionaire and former Sydney FC owner David Traktovenko.

Their rift has now become the talk of the ritzy harbourside enclaves, even threatening to overshadow Vanessa Jacobs Fennell‘s meltdown in Bellevue Hill this month.

The situation escalated far more quickly than anyone could have expected – to the point where shocked guests could hear wild accusations being yelled from across the room.

The party incident has caused a huge rift between Terry and Victoria, who sources reveal are no longer speaking.

Dina Broadhurst and Kristin Fisher

Kristin Fisher and Dina Broadhurst only recently patched things up after falling out in early 2024… apparently over a certain man.

That feud sent shockwaves through their friendship group, with the once-inseparable duo going to great lengths to avoid attending the same social events.

But after Dina suddenly became single again following her split from the appliances heir John Winning Jr. in early December, the two women put their differences aside.

They were even spotted looking like old friends at the society wedding of Pilates instructor Bernadette Fahey and property developer Jordan Sukkar.

However, it remains to be seen if the ‘frenemies’ are back to being just enemies after Kristin was spotted getting cosy with Dina’s property developer ex Max Shepherd at a wedding in New Zealand earlier this month.

But Dina might be too blissfully happy with her new Belgian toyboy Kengi Meert to care, so who knows?

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