KEY POINTS:
Curmudgeons may be grimacing today, being that it is Random Act of Kindness Day, but I'm sure even the killjoys amongst us would appreciate a free arbitrary hug from a complete stranger - except, maybe, that pretty runner who hilariously avoided Brendon Pongia's open arms like the plague this morning on TV One's Breakfast show. Don't ya love live TV?
Pongs hit the streets in Wellington with his arms open wide offering free hugs. Most took him up on the offer, but just at the moment I tuned in to Breakfast (hoping, actually, to get an impromptu update from Paul I've-just-skived-back-from-a-two-month-holiday Henry on his trip abroad with Mrs Diane Foreman) I saw the snub. Pongs brushed it off, as in pah, there are plenty more pretty girls to hug, thank you.
Ironically, my first hug today came from the once Mrs Pongs-to-be: the gorgeous Miriama Smith. The pair was once engaged to be married many years ago. Smith was also engaged to Frank Bunce some time ago. But now she's dating the dashing Scott Palmer.
Miriama - who's set to star on the new show New Zealand's Got Talent alongside Paul Ellis and Richard Driver (note: he no longer likes to be called Dick) - sent me a delightful text message at 8:24am this morning saying: "Random Acts of Kindness Day!!! Hav a hug & kiss on me. Mwah!!! Oxox."
Bless. What a nice way to start my morning, I thought. It's better than my usual random run-in with Smith. You see there's this couple that go jogging around my neighbourhood. I see them when I'm out walking my pooch Sebastian. They look like a coco Ken and Barbie: all perfectly coiffed and slender. No puffy red faces. Barbs, I've learned is none other than Miriama; Ken is her beau Scott. Smith's effortless exercise regime is one of the banes of my daily life. Who looks that good sweaty?
And now add to that: nice. It's a winning formula. Plus, she has that immeasurable X-factor. To paraphrase Nina Simone, Smith is young, gifted and brown. And that's one of the reasons why I'm a fan. Of course, it helps to keep a gossip columnist on side with random messages of kindness.
Strictly exposed: how much Brendan, Hayley will make on UK dance show
Thanks to the vacancy left by axed dancer Nicole Cutler on UK show Strictly Come Dancing, Richie McCaw's girlfriend Hayley Holt will be joining fellow house dancer Brendan Cole on the BBC1 hit show on September 13, but don't go thinking it's big bucks and star treatment.
Cutler spilled the secrets to a UK paper last week revealing the professional dancers are paid almost the minimum wage by the broadcaster and had to strip in front of each other!
Cutler confessed: "The money was so bad we could have got almost the same at McDonald's." She told the News of the World, the house dancers - like Brendan Cole - were paid a paltry £6 (NZ$15.60) an hour while their celebrity partners, presenters and judges, Craig Revel-Horwood who is paid £90,000 (NZ$234,000 a series) were paid a fortune.
Co-host Bruce Forsyth was paid £450,000 a year, in comparison. "The amount we got paid," Cutler said, "compared to the hours we actually put in rehearsing and performing meant we were on the minimum wage."
"But as long as there are dancers desperate to be on Strictly Come Dancing we'll never be able to negotiate fees."
But it's all relative, isn't it. What Cutler calls measly equates to £17,000 a series for each of the professional dancers, compared to the celebrities who pocket £30,000. But 17,000 quid is over NZ$44,000 - that's not bad, I'd have thought. But then there's the shoddy working conditions, apparently.
According to Cutler, the backstage conditions were so shabby, male and female dancers were forced to strip in front of each other in a corridor before the shows, because the cheapskate BBC wouldn't give them dressing rooms. As the cliche goes: the show must go on. And it does with faces that are happy to put up with the conditions just to get their mug on the hit show. Fame and fortune don't necessarily cha-cha-cha together.
Little heard of NZ designer toast of Vogue UK
She may not be a household name in the fashion industry here ... yet, but she's making her mark in Sydney and London already.
Fashion designer Melanie Cutfield, who trained at the Wellington Fashion Design School, has launched her own label in the UK and had a star profile in Vogue UK last week. Aside from a handful of Kiwi boutiques, you can find the Melanie Cutfield label in a variety of trend-setting stores across the ditch, and in ultra-hip boutique The Jacksons in celebrity-haven Notting Hill where the likes of Elizabeth Murdoch, Tim Jeffries, Bjork, Claudia Schiffer, Robbie Williams, Martine McCutcheon and Stella McCartney all have homes.
Big cheer for Erin
A top Kiwi dancer has narrowly missed out on a coveted spot cheerleading for famed US basketball team, the Chicago Bulls.
Erin Boon, 26, said she was delighted to be asked to audition for the "Luvabulls", whose courtside prescence at every Bulls game makes the girls celebrities in their own right.
Like an episode of America's Top Model, the girls were followed by cameras, their numbers whittled down as those who thought they could dance were brutally cut down in front of a panel of judges. False eyelashes, red lips and big hair were also encouraged.
Boon plans to bring the moves and training ideas picked up during the gruelling audition process back to Auckland's Sky City Cheerteam and motorsport's dance team, the Lion Red Rockettes.
Hugo Boss
The new Hugo Boss store opened on Broadway last week with celebrity and fashion industry guests, including Keisha Castle-Hughes, Dan Carter, Brooke McAllister and Anthony Tuitavake.
Click here for photos of the event by Norrie Montgomery.
Rachel Glucina
Pictured above: Scott Palmer and Miriama Smith at Spy Society Party at the Wharf, Northcote. Photo / Norrie Montgomery
