Man about town Ricardo Simich brings you Society Insider. This week, Jaime Ridge’s son born in California as wildfires rage; a royal visitor in Auckland; and who are the rich listers and celebs heading to this weekend’s SailGP
Society Insider: Jaime Ridge’s new baby after evacuating LA wildfires; Polo and SailGP set to attract all-star guest lists
Tommy Bates and Jaime Ridge evacuated their home in LA days before their new baby arrived; Indian royalty Padmanabh 'Pacho' Singh has made his first visit to NZ; Sir Russell Coutts' SailGP is attracting an all-star guest list. Photo / Herald composite
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She had earlier shared a video taken by her West Hollywood neighbour of the Hollywood Hills ablaze. “I cannot describe how terrified I was to look up my street and see this.”
Sally Ridge, Jaime’s mother, had arrived in the city ahead of Tate’s birth. It’s understood the family may have escaped to Beverly Hills for Tate’s arrival and to escape the fires.
Jaime said she was very grateful to her mother and husband for getting her out safely.
At the time of writing, 24 people had lost their lives in the catastrophic wildfires, and thousands of people have lost their homes and businesses. It’s understood Ridge and Bates’ home is currently undamaged.
The couple first met in 2017. At the time, Ridge told Society Insider she had met Bates that year while visiting LA.
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“Tommy and I are dating and are both really happy,” she said. “I stay with him in Venice and am splitting my time between LA, Sydney and Auckland.”
Since then, Ridge has made a name and a permanent home for herself with Bates in LA. She has become a renowned fashion stylist, entrepreneur and creative, celebrated for her high-end, luxury-focused social media content across fashion, lifestyle, and travel.
Ridge has collaborated with luxury brands including Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tom Ford and Hermès, and in 2020, she co-founded Sausse, a global members-only service offering personalised product sourcing and curation for fashion and interior connoisseurs.
Bates proposed to Ridge in 2019 while they were on holiday in Europe, and are understood to have married out of the spotlight in March 2020.
The couple welcomed their first child, Porter, in LA in 2022. Because of Covid-19 travel restrictions at the time, Sally wasn’t able to be at the birth as she had hoped.
In an interview with Woman’s Day that year, Sally Ridge talked about her closeness with her eldest daughter, who is now 31, saying that Jaime was a great mum.
“She is so relaxed, probably much like me. And Tommy is an amazing dad, too. They’re such a cute family.”
Last October Sally, Jaime, Tommy and Porter enjoyed time with Sally’s boyfriend, multimillionaire property developer John Darby, at the luxurious Rosewood Resort Kona Village on the idyllic Kona Coast in Hawaii. While there, Jaime announced that she and Bates were expecting their second child.
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Despite the dramatic circumstances around Tate’s arrival, Society Insider understands the family is healthy and doing well.
Like many Kiwis based in LA, since giving birth Jaime has been calling attention to important news about the fires on her social media.
This week the mother and daughter were out together strolling in Beverly Hills and Sally has said, despite the crazy times, and all the sadness aside, it’s been wonderful being there with her daughter for the arrival of her second grandchild.
A good family friend of the Ridges, Kiwi actor KJ Apa, has used his star power to educate his millions of followers about the fires. Apa, who has been based in Hollywood for nearly 10 years, has been giving out information about the correct Los Angeles County emergency resources, as well as celebrating the Mexican firefighters who have volunteered in LA.
Fellow Hollywood-based Kiwi Antony Starr has also been using his social media to share helpful resources and advice.
Society Insider is told Kiwi comedian Rhys Darby’s wife Rosie has been awesome at keeping the Hollywood Kiwi expat community updated through Facebook. The couple, who also have a home in Matakana, have lived in LA for over 10 years.
Along with thousands of others displaced by the fires, LA-based actor Anna Hutchison and dancer Anjula Kelly-Nair had to evacuate their homes and actor Rose McIver has been on standby.
Hollywood-based New Zealand celebrity personal trainer and Nike Master Trainer Kirsty Godso, has opened her home to friends who were evacuated because of the fires. On Monday, Godso and some of her fitness friends were seen handing out care packages to their Melrose Ave community.
Actor Kim Crossman, who splits her time between LA and New Zealand, has been home in Aotearoa for the holidays, enjoying time with family in the Coromandel. The apartment she has had for six years near the Santa Monica Pier has so far been unaffected by the fires, however, it’s on the border of an evacuation zone. She hurried back to LA last week, in case she needed to evacuate her pets or help her elderly neighbours to leave their homes.
Crossman is devastated for her many friends who have lost their homes to the fires. While in LA, she has been ensuring her friends are safe and have somewhere to go. The situation is ever-changing, with evacuation areas being regularly updated because of the shifting winds and uncontained fires still burning.
As an animal lover, and SPCA ambassador, Crossman has also used her time in LA to reunite lost pets with their owners and gather supplies like pet food and litter to donate.
Musician Greg Johnson is another Kiwi based in Santa Monica. Like Crossman, his home has so far been unaffected, but he has described the fires as being truly apocalyptic. He says multiple good friends of his have lost everything, and he is thankful to be alive and safe.
Former Shortland Street actor-turned-florist to the stars, Spencer Falls, has also been home in New Zealand from Los Angeles and has offered up his home in Venice Beach to anyone displaced.
Other Kiwis who have had to evacuate their homes include producer Justin Townsend, singer Lisa Crawley, and superstar choreographer Parris Goebel. It’s understood Goebel is now back in her home, and thankful to be there. She has been encouraging people to volunteer at the local YMCA that she visited before evacuating.
Polo attracts royalty and rich listers
New Zealand has had a royal visitor this month, with the Maharaja of Jaipur, spotted in Auckland. Padmanabh Singh, known to friends, family and his more than 526,000 Instagram followers as “Pacho”, was in Clevedon and surrounds, checking out the best polo ponies New Zealand has to offer last week.
Singh, 26, a renowned polo player, is the head of one of India’s richest royal families and it’s understood it was his first visit to the country, attracted by the quality of the polo horses being bred here.
Padmanabh Singh’s great-grandfather was the last ruling Maharaja of Rajhastan when it was the British Raj. Although royal titles were abolished in India in 1971, some families, including Singh’s, continue to use them unofficially. Singh was unofficially crowned as the “Maharaja of Jaipur” in 2011 at the age of 12, after the death of his grandfather, who previously held the title.
In a profile in the Financial Express from 2024, Singh was reported to have started as a competitive polo player in England in 2015, joining Windsor’s Guards Polo Club. He also led the Indian national team when they visited the UK in 2017.
Known for his love of fashion as much as polo, he is also noted for his modern approach — he once opened the family’s City Palace in Jaipur to tourists, giving them the chance to book a stay there through Airbnb, with proceeds going to a charity supporting rural women in Rajasthan. The Herald’s Courtney Whitaker visited the palace in 2019 for the Airbnb launch, and met Singh, who said he would “love to visit” New Zealand.
Singh reportedly controls a fortune of well over $2 billion.
Before he flew out this week, Society Insider is told Singh enjoyed one of his last nights in Auckland at the huge concert by Aussie DJ Fisher at Victoria Park.
This year’s polo season kicks off next Thursday at the Auckland Polo Club in Clevedon with a private match and lunch under the oaks for movers and shakers, before the Polo Open on February 16.
Among the names attending the private match are fashion designer Caitlin Crisp, celebrity chef Hercules Noble, Pals co-founder Anna Reeve and broadcaster Wilhelmina Shrimpton.
Talented polo veteran Ross George, the executive chairman of leading private investor company Direct Capital, will stand in as host for the day, next Thursday.
Auckland Polo Club president, rich lister Tony van den Brink, will be in Hawke’s Bay watching his daughter, a multi-talented entertainer, play polo when the New Zealand ladies’ team play Zambia.
Van den Brink will host the Open at Clevedon in February as usual. His team, the Brinks, won last year’s open, captained by his son Matt. This year the family connection continues — younger son Steve will captain the team.
Also playing in the open this year is Australian-born, New Zealand-based polo star Ross Ainsley for team Experieco, who spends the year playing the polo fields of Australia and England.
On Ainsley’s team is Ethan Wade of the English polo dynasty. His polo-playing father, Jonny Wade, was said to be the inspiration for one of the characters in Jilly Cooper’s infamous book Polo, the third book in her Rutshire Chronicles series. Rivals, the second of the chronicles, was adapted into a TV series and became one of 2024’s most talked about shows.
Cameron Ross, who is among the third generation of the South Auckland property-developing Ross dynasty, is behind the Conmara Estate team that will be competing. Ross has top UK player Jimbo Fewster on his team, who is flying in to defend his title. He was in the winning Brink’s team last year. Conmara Estate is a residential development currently under construction in Clevedon, and is a tribute to the Ross family’s extensive connections to South Auckland.
New Zealand Bloodstock’s rich list Vela family, who own Karaka hotel the Double Tree Inn by Hilton, will have a marquee for VIPs at the Open, as will Archibald and Shorter’s Land Rover, and premium French rose brand Whispering Angel.
Rich listers Sam Wyborn, Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams, as well as horse and motoring titans Kent and Erika Baigent and their daughters Nikola and Stefni are said to be some of the monied guests set to attend.
Society Insider will reveal more about the summer’s best events in next week’s column.
Sail GP’s all-star guest list
Rich lister Sir Russell Coutts’ dream of finally bringing SailGP home to the City of Sails is being realised this weekend.
The long-awaited debut of the ITM New Zealand SailGP on the Waitematā Harbour expects more than 22,000 fans on Saturday and Sunday.
Spectators will be spread across the race village and grandstand seats in the shoreside Race Stadium on Wynyard Point, as well as packed spectator crafts at key points on the course.
Coutts, whose wealth is estimated to be well north of $100 million, was proud last week when his son Mattias, 19, took out the Moth World Championships at the Manly Sailing Club, north of Auckland.
Over the break, Mattias’ older brother Michael showed off his entrepreneurial mettle by organising a festival called Matakanarama with his friends over the New Year. The burgeoning festival in Matakana, was a success, with campsites, bands and DJs and even came with its own merch, too.
Expect to see them both and hopefully their older brother, famed makeup artist Grayson Coutts, at the SailGP Village.
Coutts’ friend, chef Josh Emett, is creating a five-star menu for the VIP guests in the Adrenaline Lounge, which is situated underneath the grandstand with direct eyeline to the sailing action.
Among a selection of VIPs and politicians expected at the Adrenaline Lounge will be Auckland FC co-owners Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams. Their football team’s match with Melbourne City FC is on Saturday at Go Media Stadium.
A-listers will be sprinkled throughout the grandstand to cheer on the Black Foils, including Olympian Dame Lisa Carrington, actors Kim Crossman and Beulah Koale, and The Hits’ host Ben Boyce.
One of the best places the public can catch the action will be at the Heineken Hospitality Zone positioned in the heart of the Race Stadium in Wynyard Quarter. However, the ticket you’d really want to receive is to the invite-only Heineken yacht – a 20-metre motorboat we hear will be hosting celebrities including former All Black Julian Savea and wife Tima, society chef Hercules Noble, fashion designers Caitlin Crisp and Rebe Burgess, and model Portia Prince.
Many of the NZ rich listers’ superyachts that were in Barcelona for the America’s Cup — including the boats of Paula and Simon Herbert and Steve Owen — are said to be still on the Mediterranean. Barcelona rich listers in town for the racing will instead use their runabouts.
Sir Michael Hill’s boat The Beast has been spotted around Great Barrier Island and the Hauraki Gulf over the past few weeks, as have the boats of billionaire families, the Harts and the Mowbrays.
Expect Blair Tuke’s girlfriend Mikayla Plaw and Peter Burling’s wife Lucinda to be in the village, to watch their partners on the water. Plaw’s parents, Waikato rich-listers Mitch and Kate Plaw, are expected to be on their superyacht to take in the action.
Alan Adler, the owner and chief executive of the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team will be in attendance. Adler is a well-known sailor in his own right and the promoter of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix (F1).
With sailing legend Jimmy Spithill in his new role as chief executive for the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team, Society Insider is sure Kiwi F1 driver Liam Lawson and American girlfriend Hannah St John will be mixing and mingling with several of the teams.
Society Insider is told that if you are hoping to spot some of the international sailors outside the racing village, the restaurants around SkyCity are your best bet. Most team members are staying at the SkyCity Grand.
Ahead of the racing this weekend the US SailGP team were seen sightseeing on top of Mt Eden and driver Taylor Canfield did a Sky Jump on Sunday to mark their arrival in New Zealand.
The Black Foils took to the water over the weekend heading out to the Noises with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and representatives from the SailGP Switzerland Team to check out the work that has been done by Burling and Tuke’s conservation charity Live Ocean, and others, to restore kelp forests.
A good week for... Mitch Lowe and Co
Mitch Lowe, Toby Burrows and Carwyn Williams of Trademark Group had two of NZ’s biggest cities come alive into 2025 last weekend with Australian superstar DJ Fisher performing at Christchurch’s Hagley Park on Friday and Auckland’s Victoria Park on Saturday.
Lowe tells Society Insider that it had been six years since the 38-year-old Australian — a former pro-surfer, turned crowd igniter — had been in New Zealand.
“On Saturday night we delivered the biggest electronic headline show in NZ history, with more than 22,000 people on site,” Lowe tells Society Insider.
Lowe says Fisher’s team was delighted with the result and loved the show and state-of-the-art set-up that Trademark Live created in both cities.
Lowe and his wife Ezel had tech titan Carmen Vicelich among their guests.
Other revellers of note were Pals co-founders Jay and Anna Reeve, millionaire entrepreneur Iyia Liu, model and wellness guru Esther Cronin, broadcaster Brodie Kane, PR maven Gemma Ross, and co-founder of Rhythm and Vines, Hamish Pinkham and wife Roma.
Party people of the week
The ASB Classic Men’s Week
The weather and men’s tennis gods delivered for the second week of the ASB Classic last week.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his wife Amanda, attended the final, presenting Men’s Singles winner, French player Gael Monfils with his trophy, after Saturday’s sold-out final.
The 38-year-old became the oldest winner since the ATP Tour’s inception in 1990, beating the previous mark held by tennis legend Roger Federer.
Also at the final were chief executive of Auckland Business Chamber, Simon Bridges; Ambassador of the United States to New Zealand, Thomas Stewart; and former All Black Ali Williams and wife, ZEIL founder Anna Mowbray.
Williams was given the honour of opening a magnum of Champagne with a sword for G.H. Mumm’s Tap Tap Moment of sabrage.
Other familiar faces who attended the event during Men’s Week included Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, Government minister Melissa Lee, tennis Olympian Jeff Simpson and former Kiwi tennis player Brett Steven, The Hits’ Matty McLean and husband, real estate agent and Auckland Racing Club ambassador Ryan Teece, and celebrity foodie Polly Markus.
Business movers and shakers who attended included ASB chief executive Vittoria Shortt, Rich Listers Ross and Josephine Green, retail estate titan Anne Norman, Pernod Ricard’s National Sales Manager Trent Orange, Jonty Kelt of venture capital business Fantail Ventures and Bridgette Walker and Callum Ross from One NZ.
Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.
