The Diary: Sonny Bill gets cupped

Sonny Bill Williams has been trying out a treatment that's popular with celebrities.

New love bites ...

Sports star Sonny Bill Williams has embraced the latest celebrity pampering craze: cupping. Gwyneth, Madonna and even Posh Spice do it.

Now SBW has taken to Twitter to show off a posterior that looks like a well-used coaster.

"Tried a lil [sic] cupping yesterday woke up looking like this."

Cupping is a Chinese alternative medicine which uses suction to mobilise blood flow and promote healing.

Don't give up your day jobs....

That's the message to All Blacks Israel Dagg and Andy Ellis and former teammate Zac Guildford. The Crusader stars donated their time and muscle to Mitre 10 Dream Home which starts next month on TV2 after a three-year absence.

Six Cantabrian families will vie for two teams and the chance to build their ultimate house. The series follows their renovations. At the end, one team will get their home for free. A public vote, as well as the weekly judges' votes, will decide the winner.

Team Black has the assistance of Dagg and Guildford on one episode while Ellis will join the Orange team.

"Zac helped with some painting in one of the rooms," said a source. "He's lucky he can play rugby because he was hopeless at painting."

Dagg's impromptu appearance surprised the crew. "The females on set were particularly taken and posed for photos," said an insider.

But Dagg, who proved this week he needs to brush up on his Twitter political correctness, proved handier with a spade.

"Israel was more helpful [than Zac], in that he dug holes for a deck on one of the houses," said a producer.

Ellis had a turn with the brush, too, painting a fence for the Orange team.

"The earthquakes were motivation to bring the series back after a three-year hiatus," said a TVNZ rep.

Cantabrian broadcaster Simon Barnett will play host.

Sisterhood unites

Deborah Hill Cone lit a match with her Herald column on Monday, igniting an inferno on Twitter and a blazing barrage by female colleagues.

They took umbrage with her comments on Andrea Vance's Peter Dunne scoop. Hill Cone wrote of female journalists: "You have to be good at putting on the different personas that are expected of you, whether that be vampish, coquettish or as 'enchantingly nasty' as Rita Skeeter. Most often young female journalists still seem to be cast in these starring roles by older tweedy men.

"I wonder how many female reporters in the parliamentary Press Gallery have unresolved daddy issues. Oh I know they will all deny this strenuously; they are tough, independent and staunch. I'd have said the same, too. I just can't help thinking it would be progress if female journalists were writing their own parts rather than continuing to play the role of temptress to male politicians."

Daddy issues. Temptress. That hit a nerve. Seven Sharp's Heather Du Plessis-Allan (former gallery reporter and wife of 61-year-old political ed Barry Soper) lashed back.

"Ewww on both counts!" she sneered during her TV interview with Dunne, which was dibbed as the first since he resigned as a minister, but appeared more a point-scoring opportunity for the gallery gals against Hill Cone.

"Do we have daddy issues? Are we temptresses?" Silver Fox Dunne was on flame-dousing, reputation-repairing business and would hardly concur.

Others followed suit. "Stop attacking people based on their gender," blogged Newstalk political reporter Katie Bradford-Crozier, who questioned whether her years at uni and media experience counted for nothing.

Waikato Times journo Jenna Lynch wondered if it was a case of schoolyard tall-poppy syndrome. "It's hard enough for young females to prove intelligence and integrity without Hill Cone throwing out accusations that we thrust boobs in faces to get stories."
Hill Cone did not respond to messages, but her column has united a sisterhood.

We still love mum

She may have been dumped by the state broadcaster eight years ago, but former Mother of the Nation Judy Bailey showed yesterday the value of experience and familiarity. The 60-year-old was ranked in the Top 10 of the Reader's Digest Most Trusted List, joining a mature group of high-profile Kiwis, including Alison Holst, No 75, Peter Leitch, 69, Peter Snell, 74, Jerry Mateparae, 58, and Kevin Milne, 64. John Kirwan topped the list. Wendy Petrie, who usurped Bailey as TV One's leading female newsreader, didn't even make the Top 100. Her sidekick, Simon Dallow, crawled in at No 38. Incidentally, TV3's Hilary Barry wasn't named either. Pfft. Lists, who trusts them?

Sail city roller

Patients at an inner-city health clinic on Wednesday were rendered speechless when X Factor judge Daniel Bedingfield rolled through reception - literally. The eccentric star, wearing a puffer jacket, tea-cosy beanie and white roller-skates, drew gasps and much-warranted attention as he took a spin past conservative corporate types. "You don't expect to see that every day," said one to The Diary. "Is he mad?"

Lunching like the 80s

It's been a rocky ride this week on the media rollercoaster. TV3 broadcaster MediaWorks was placed in receivership, a 126-year-old newspaper title crumbled, and Fairfax announced the axing of three magazines. Meanwhile, staff at a modest circulation Bauer Media title were quaffing back beverages at the Blue Breeze Inn like the 80s had called and asked for its gel back. Mind you, with former ad land veteran David Walden propping up another corner of the Ponsonby hotspot, and expecting socialite/advertising director Gilda Kirkpatrick (she's due on July 9) holding court in another, perhaps the good times have returned.

Changes on the menu

In foodie news ...

The Roxy inaudibly closed its doors two months ago and now neighbouring eatery Everybody's in the Imperial Lane complex has changed course. This week the bistro menu morphed into a Japanese Izakaya carte du jour with chef Nick Honeyman at the helm.

Meanwhile, also changing course is former NZX boss Mark Weldon, who's entered the olive oil business. He's invested in The Village Press and been appointed chairman of the Hawkes Bay-based company.