Magazine deal helps pay for Kate's '$300k' ring

Insiders say Mike Hosking and Kate Hawkesby could have been paid $50,000 for their magazine deal. Photo / Norrie Montgomery

The exclusive magazine deal publicly announcing Mike Hosking and Kate Hawkesby's engagement could net the couple $50,000 - which might be only a fraction of the cost of their custom-made engagement ring.

Industry insiders say the agreement - believed to be a package deal including their wedding story and photographs, and maybe even honeymoon pictures - will help to pay for the whopping five-carat square-cut diamond that expert jewellers estimate cost around $300,000.

The notoriously private broadcasters announced their engagement in a very public way this week - a six-page magazine spread in the New Zealand Woman's Weekly.

Hosking, 45, spilled the beans to the magazine on how he proposed on a bridge across the Yarra River in Melbourne, but he wasn't keen to talk to the Herald on Sunday this week.

Hawkesby, 37, the daughter of veteran broadcaster John Hawkesby, told the magazine the wedding would focus on their children, Hosking's twins, Ruby and Bella, 9, and Hawkesby's children Jackson, 11, Josh, 9 and Marley, 3.

But all the talk so far is about the dazzling engagement ring.

Jewellery and diamond experts told the Herald on Sunday the ring could be worth $300,000.

However, a five-carat diamond could range in price from $80,000 to $500,000, depending on the cut, clarity and colour of the stone.

One expert said between $200,000 and $300,000 "could be right", while another agreed on $300,000.

As Hosking proposed in Melbourne, one industry insider said he could have saved 12.5 per cent GST - or $33,000 on a $300,000 ring.

The amount Woman's Weekly paid to the couple is being kept secret, but it is believed the magazine bought a package of stories on the engagement and the wedding. Even magazine staff were unaware what was going to run on their front page this week, with the story slotted in at the last minute.

Woman's Weekly editor Sido Kitchin "politely" declined to comment on the topic, and on whether subscription copies were held back a day to ensure secrecy.

The amount celebrities are paid for stories always remains confidential but insiders estimate the couple could have been paid around $50,000.

When New Idea published an exclusive article with David Bain last year, former Woman's Weekly editor Wendyl Nissen estimated he was paid up to $50,000.

Another insider said celebs could be paid $25,000 to $30,000 for a one-off story, but it could be double that for a package.

Signing a confidentiality agreement not to talk to other media about the engagement is the "perfect out" for the couple to stay quiet.

"It's a good way to do it really," said the source. "Stay quiet for all this time then bring it out in the public arena, which is their choice, and then not talk about it to anyone else."

Hosking has long criticised media coverage of high-profile people and celebrities - even spending thousands on a prolonged legal battle with New Idea six years ago, to try to stop the magazine from publishing photos of his daughters.