Man about town Ricardo Simich brings you Society Insider. This week, Aussie chef Pete Evans is making moves in the US; multi-millionaire Matthew Horncastle is preparing for first-time fatherhood; and Dame Pieter Stewart’s granddaughter is following in her fashion industry footsteps.
Society Insider: Pete Evans and Nicola Robinson’s next moves; Matthew Horncastle’s first baby; Dame Pieter Stewart’s granddaughter’s NYC fashion scholarship
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Harley McVicar, granddaughter of Dame Pieter Stewart, is off to fashion school in New York; property developer Matthew Horncastle and his partner Hannah Bungay are expecting their first baby; Nicola Robinson Evans and husband Pete Evans have "a big year ahead". Photo / Herald composite
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Robinson Evans – formerly known as Nicky Watson – and Evans bought the 7.9ha property in Byrrill Creek in 2020.
Society Insider last September reported the couple’s retreat was for sale and had a purchase offer that was yet to go unconditional.
Evolve Sanctuary is still listed for sale on a real estate website for A$3.6 million ($3.9m).
A salesperson for the property from Jet Real Estate told Society Insider the original offer was still on the table.
“The buyer has been doing extensive due diligence, and it is hoped a deal can be done soon,” they said.
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Next month, the husband and wife will host a weekend of cooking paleo/keto-inspired food at their retreat, at A$2000 per head.
Kiwi friends of Robinson Evans tell Society Insider the couple hope that once Evolve Sanctuary sells, she and Evans might set up something similar in New Zealand in her native South Island.
However, when approached for comment on their South Island plans, Evans told Society Insider there were “no plans at this stage, as I have a big year after”.
Evans is due in the US late next month, after the retreat at Evolve. He will be speaking at the world’s largest Bitcoin Conference at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.
He told his social media followers he is excited to be speaking at the conference on “the marriage of long-term regenerative health and wealth for all”.
Bitcoin 2025, Code & Country says it will bring together Bitcoin industry titans, leading tech companies, US Cabinet officials and policymakers for a summit on accelerating innovation through public policy.
Evans will follow that with a trip to Europe in June and a speaking appearance at Bitcoin Prague.
He told Society Insider his new book will discuss “the parallels or similarities between Bitcoin and ancestral diets”.
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It will be Evans’ second trip to the US this year. In March, he travelled to Florida and met with President Donald Trump and his senior adviser, Elon Musk, at Trump’s Palm Beach residence Mar-a-Lago.
Although he didn’t pose with the two famous men, he did pose at Mar-a-Lago with Trump’s former wife Marla Maples, whom he said was connecting the health movement in the US in profound ways.
Evans has also expressed his support for Trump’s new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy jnr, telling US media he had been a fan of his for more than five years. Kennedy jnr caused controversy as Trump’s health secretary pick because he is known to be anti-vaccination.
Evans’ Facebook account was cancelled at the end of 2020 for spreading conspiracy theories about Covid-19.
Amid Evans’ social media controversy, Robinson Evans showed her support for her husband, telling Society Insider: “I’m more than happy to share with you that I’m not anti-anything, but rather pro-safe and pro-choice. I’m honoured to be sharing an authentic journey with Pete.”
In a recent interview Evans had with American TV anchor Ed Henry on cable news network Newsmax, the pair discussed how Evans felt about being cancelled and de-platformed, as well as how tech companies were now “cosying up” to the new Trump administration.
In January, Evans’ cookbook Healthy Food for Healthy Kids hit bookshelves. The book is published by the Kennedy-led Children’s Health Defence Books publishing house.
When asked for comment on his March trip to the US, Evans told Society Insider he didn’t have time to say more about his travels as he was elbow-deep in recipes and meeting requirements for a new book.
Evans did tell us that he will be in the US again in August and will be speaking at a special event at Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia.
Salatin’s farm is known for its diverse approach to farming, specialising in pastured livestock and poultry, moved frequently to new salad bars, which he says offer “landscape healing and nutritional superiority”.
Property developer Matthew Horncastle prepares for first-time fatherhood
Multi-millionaire townhouse building titan Matthew Horncastle is having his first child with his girlfriend of a year, Hannah Bungay.
“We are simply thrilled. I can’t wait to be a dad,” Horncastle tells Society Insider. “After being a business owner for 14 years, I am excited to take those lessons into fatherhood.”
Horncastle is the co-founder of home building giant, Williams Corporation, which he founded with Blair Chappell in 2012. The company is named after both of their middle names.
Once an eligible man about town, Christchurch-born Horncastle, 31, says he has known Wellingtonian Bungay, 23, for two years. A year ago their friendship blossomed into a romantic relationship.
Horncastle stirred controversy in 2022 when he wrote on Instagram that a woman should use her youth and beauty to get the best possible man.
He added that from his limited reading about having babies, it is healthier for the mother – and the baby – to do it sooner instead of later.
After blowback from his followers, Horncastle deleted the post, but not before the media picked up on it.
As he did at the time, Horncastle maintains his comments were taken out of context.
He says he and Bungay are lucky enough to be in a financial situation where she can take time out to have children.
“I have found the loveliest person in Hannah; she is kind and thoughtful, and I think she will make a great mum,” he says.
Bungay’s passion for animals led to her working as a groomer at Animates New Zealand for several years before a stint selling real estate for Ray White.
Horncastle and Bungay’s recent pregnancy announcement also involved them revealing the baby’s gender in a special way. They filmed a video in their kitchen, joined by their dachshund puppy Oakely, with the couple digging empty champagne flutes into a white-iced cake. Pulling the flutes out revealed a layer of blue frosting to confirm they are expecting a baby boy.
Horncastle says he was overjoyed with the news.
“We had a list of female and male names ready before the reveal, including Cleopatra, Napoleon and Alexander the Great,” Horncastle says. “I told Hannah I would like to name our first child after a historic conqueror.”
The pair have settled that their firstborn will be named Alexander William Horncastle.
For now, the couple’s home base is in Horncastle’s multimillion-dollar, three-storey Christchurch home, which includes an indoor swimming pool, sauna and four-car garage.
Before their baby is born, Bungay would like the family to move to a lifestyle block outside Christchurch, where she can focus on motherhood and her second love, animals.
Since the pair have been in a relationship, they have travelled to Singapore and Sydney and spent time on Horncastle’s 26.5m super yacht, the WW, around Auckland’s Waitematā.
The yacht was on the market in January 2024 for $6 million, when the property market was in a downturn. But last August, when there was a market upswing, Horncastle told Society Insider he was holding on to it while also offering her up for charter.
After a year of consolidating the business through a property downturn, Horncastle says Williams Corporation has more than 260 homes currently being built.
Williams, who once loved living the high life in Auckland, is relishing the pace that being a father will bring him.
He says the couple will still have a pad in Auckland city, having recently bought an apartment at 51 Albert St. The 47-level building houses luxury apartments integrated with the newly opened Hotel Indigo.
Dame Pieter Stewart’s next generation of fashion stars
A love of fashion runs in the family for Dame Pieter Stewart, the founder of New Zealand Fashion Week.
Her granddaughter, Harley McVicar, has been accepted into the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York.
McVicar, 18, has attended every Fashion Week since she was a small child, sitting alongside Stewart, who she calls “Mimi”. Stewart believes that other than herself, McVicar has watched more NZ Fashion Week shows than anyone else.
“Fashion Week was simply a second home to her,” Stewart tells Society Insider. She proudly says her granddaughter developed an innate sense of the arts and love of fashion watching the collections from the front row.
McVicar says she feels lucky to have had NZFW as her playground.
“The creativity I was able to absorb gave me my passion for photography and a broad knowledge of how to draw, paint and design,” she says.
McVicar’s mother, Christchurch-based make-up artist Kristen Stewart, says her daughter has worked tirelessly at St Margaret’s, excelling in academics, art and leadership. “Harley set clear goals and achieved each one, from winning art cups to becoming a prefect.”
For her Parsons application, Stewart says her daughter carefully crafted essays and curated a portfolio explanation of her process and story.
“Her hard work paid off with not only acceptance, but also a half scholarship to attend the school in August,” says Stewart.
At NZFW, McVicar walked the children’s shows as a child, got to hang out with A-listers including former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, but mostly loved learning from the talented designers.
In 2015, aged 8, McVicar made national and international headlines as the world’s youngest fashion blogger, reporting for NZFW as well as on her own blog on her experiences and observations sitting front row.
At 13, McVicar designed the T-shirt prints for the 2019 Fashion Week volunteers.
For the blog, McVicar interviewed Kiwi designer Sean Kelly, winner of the 2014 US season of Project Runway, who was showing his first collection at NZ fashion week in 2015.
McVicar says she was “obsessed” with Kelly, and he was her hero.
“It was so exciting to see a New Zealander win a show like that.”
During their interview, Kelly brought up Parsons, where Project Runway was filmed.
“Parsons was embedded in my brain from a very young age, and since that interview, year on year, it became very apparent, it is where I am destined to go,” McVicar says.
McVicar might hail from one of NZ’s first families of fashion, but her mum Kristen Stewart is a single mother and tells Society Insider that the fees for the other half of her scholarship – and the cost of living in New York – will be high.
The pair are hoping to receive investment in McVicar’s future career by approaching corporates in the art and fashion sectors.
“Harley will not only be studying, she hopes to be a conduit for the NZ fashion and creative industries whilst studying in New York,” says Stewart. “She has always achieved above and beyond what has been expected of her, and I know this will be another exciting chapter for her to excel in.”
As well as fashion design, Dame Pieter Stewart says McVicar is also a talented artist.
“Having never given any of her art away, we decided to commission a piece which now brightens our living room,” she says.
“We will feel comforted looking at it once she leaves on this amazing adventure.”
Party people of the week
First Mates, Last Laugh’s first birthday
Auckland waterfront hotspot First Mates, Last Laugh, marked its first year in business with an unforgettable birthday celebration on Saturday afternoon, throwing open its Westhaven doors for an exclusive soiree that paid homage to the venue’s signature flair for fun, flavour and a bit of cheek.
More than 300 guests came to enjoy co-owners Judith Tabron and Steven and Kylie Mann’s famous hospitality.
Among the free pours from mid-afternoon until late were the now-legendary Stoli Pineapple martinis and an abundance of food, including a freshly prepared seafood bar, complete with oysters shucked to order, sashimi and mini versions of the menu, served fork-and-walk style.
Entertainment came in the form of bespoke caricatures by local artist Paul Blomfield, who had guests in fits of laughter as he captured their likenesses. Adding to the celebratory vibe, a gifting suite offered limited-edition T-shirts for guests, a playful nod to the restaurant’s irreverent spirit and cult following.
The afternoon party graduated into dancing with DJs Sambro, Zarcali and Frank Booker, while dancers wearing disco balls on their heads sashayed throughout the restaurant. Guests flitted between the bar and the dancefloor, many raising a toast to the restaurant that’s quickly become a staple on Auckland’s dining and nightlife circuit.
Among the high-profile guests were Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, rich-lister Maxine Bayley, Soul Bar and Bistro manager Liv Carter, Podis general manager Nick Randell, generational rich-listers Libby Owen and brother Nick, Ali Andrews and real estate king Graham Wall and his son Andrew.
Also in attendance were It girls about town Arabella Nelson, Franky March and Claudia Wharfe, The Hits host Matty Mclean and his husband, real estate agent Ryan Teece, media buyer Jane Hitchfield and her husband Brenden Lyons, Champagne Jacquart’s Anne Batley Burton and her husband Richard Burton.
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.
