Matilda Murray Robertson, co-founder of collapsed activewear label STAX, has revealed the toll the business's collapse took on her marriage to husband Don Robertson, after the brand was placed into receivership in June, just four years after the pair were named to the AFR Young Rich List.
The 33-year-old has turned to blogging platform Substack to document the aftermath, including a sarcastic response to critics who accused her of becoming "just another influencer" after once owning one of the industry's favourite labels. "Sorry I'm not acting how you expected me to," she wrote.
In a post published on R U OK? Day, she defended her decision to keep posting and attending events. "My job is to be online. I'm working in the brand consulting and PR space. I have to go out, I have to post, I have to network and I have to be at events. Plus, I also really enjoy it," she wrote, adding that she still gets messages implying she isn't working through "the aftermath of losing the business, having my life turned upside down, rebuilding and restarting."
STAX's rapid rise and fall
STAX was at one point touted as a $52 million business. At its peak it operated eight stores nationwide, but six quietly closed last year as rising interest rates and tightening consumer spending caught up with the athleisure boom. By June, the brand was gone entirely.
The couple's rise was not always as glamorous as their social media suggested. After relocating from Perth to Sydney in 2019, Don was still digging out of debt from his first venture, Muscle Stax. He once applied for 36 credit cards in a single week, wrecking his credit rating and locking himself out of traditional bank finance. He has since been linked to a long list of companies and domain registrations, many of them apparently speculative.
'The conversation my marriage needed'
In a paid Substack post titled The Conversation My Marriage Needed (Part 1), Murray Robertson wrote that she and her husband had stopped getting along and were forced into a reckoning once the business collapsed. "Our entire lives had been turned upside down. Everything we'd known for the past 10-plus years, the entire length of our relationship, had disappeared," she wrote.
"We'd stopped being kind to each other. We were rude, bickering, taking things personally and making little digs at each other. We were having the same arguments again and again, but perhaps the worst part of all was the silence. You could cut the tension between us with a knife." Part 2 has yet to be published.
Socialite's secret millionaire boyfriend
Eastern suburbs socialite Chloe Stewart, also known as Chloe Korner, is 20 and has been dropping increasingly obvious clues about the identity of her wealthy, much older boyfriend while touring Europe in designer labels, documenting every five-star moment for her followers, minus the man himself.
The Daily Mail revealed in May that Chloe has been quietly dating New Zealand property millionaire Ben Cook for the past three months. His real estate investments span supermarkets, large-format retail and premium commercial holdings across Australasia, though he made a rare appearance on her Instagram Stories last week.
Chloe is the daughter of Sydney businessman Ben Stewart and Olivia Korner, heiress to Australian beauty empire Madame Korner, which was at the height of its popularity in the 1990s. Her parents had a messy split in 2009 and were later embroiled in a public spat; Korner ultimately pleaded guilty to a common assault charge five years later, with no conviction recorded.
Bali wealth guru's rewritten past
Sydney expat Matt Cameron, 49, who has told his life story on The Karl Stefanovic Show and claims to be "worth millions," moved to Bali in 2023 with his wife and her two children after saying he was "sick to death of losing so much money to the tax office."
Cameron recently shared a photo of his stepchildren captioned: "My biggest flex is that my kids' lives look completely different from mine at their age. And that was always the goal." An old acquaintance said the backstory doesn't add up, claiming Cameron attended Cranbrook and lived rent-free in Watsons Bay because his father commanded HMAS Watson, before running nightclubs in Sydney and later reinventing himself as a wealth guru. "He talks like he's Donald Trump and made it in downtown Bali," the source said.
Before his current wife, Felicity Morgan, Cameron was married to South African-born, New Zealand-raised model Cassie Matthews, a relationship the source said eventually went "tits up."
Felicity Morgan's own financial trouble
Morgan's business, Felicity Morgan Coaching, was placed into liquidation on September 22 after racking up an estimated $774,118 in unpaid tax liabilities, according to ASIC records. It also owes $138,803 to unsecured creditors American Express and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, plus a further $76,350 in outstanding loans.
Morgan, known as Felicity Ludlow during her reality television career, built her profile as a "business savage" life coach focused on "shadow work," a self-exploration approach centred on uncovering unconscious beliefs. She now runs the Shadow World brand, a subscription app offering guided sessions, journals and daily prompts, whose website states: "You could spend $200 for one hour dissecting the past with a therapist. Or, for only $24.99 a month, you can gain the tools to stop your patterns."
AFL reporter's Father's Day absence
Seven Network's chief football reporter Mitch Cleary was noticeably absent from a Father's Day family celebration held by his fiancée Kate Watts and their newborn daughter. Kate's brother, former Melbourne and Port Adelaide player Jack Watts, shared a family photo captioned "Much needed," which Kate later reshared.
The Daily Mail was first to reveal Cleary had kissed a Collingwood Magpies staffer during an overseas press trip to the United Arab Emirates in November. Kate publicly called out Cleary and the woman, whom the Mail has chosen not to name, in an Instagram post last month that was widely shared on X and footy gossip forums.
Cleary later addressed the speculation on Instagram, admitting there had been a "kiss." "I am sorry for the hurt and embarrassment I have caused," he said. "The kiss was a terrible error of judgement, for which I am incredibly sorry, and I am dealing with the consequences privately with my family and those closest to me." Sources at Seven and Collingwood denied any affair took place, and it is understood the kiss occurred during an off-season trip while Watts was pregnant with the couple's first child.
Cleary co-hosts the weekly Tradies podcast with fellow journalist Sam McClure, which was normally released on Tuesdays but was delayed this week. He and Watts got engaged in February 2024 and welcomed daughter Sophia in February this year. It remains unclear whether their five-year relationship has ended; last week Watts was seen leaving her parents' home outside Melbourne with the baby, with no sign of Cleary.
Fairfax family conviction
Thomas Fairfax, son of former rugby league and union star Russell Fairfax, has been convicted at Waverley Local Court of a domestic violence-related property damage offence and fined $220. He was also convicted of possessing a prohibited drug after pleading guilty, though no further penalty was imposed.
The convictions come two months after Russell, father of former "It" girl Nadia Fairfax-Wayne, obtained an apprehended domestic violence order against his son. Police sought the order earlier this year, with the matter finalised on June 18. The two-year order remains in force until June 17, 2028, and prohibits Thomas from assaulting, threatening, stalking, harassing or intimidating Russell or anyone he has a domestic relationship with, as well as barring him from damaging Russell's property or harming an animal.
Under the order, Thomas must not approach or be in Russell's company within 12 hours of drinking alcohol or taking illicit drugs, and is prohibited from going within 100 metres of any place where his father lives or works.
