ANDREW HORNERY August 29, 2012
If the celebrity media mill is to be believed, the Shane Warne and Liz Hurley travelling sideshow could soon be leaving Australia, bound for Britain and a new $9 million love nest.
Two days after reports first emerged Warne was putting his Melbourne mansion on the market for $20 million and setting up home with British model and actress Hurley in a grand Georgian estate, the celebrity couple have been all but mute on the subject.
Yesterday Warne was too busy congratulating Melbourne radio station 3AW for ditching broadcaster Derryn Hinch to pay any attention to the rumours circulating around his living arrangements.
Warne's manager, James Erskine, denied the palatial Brighton home had been put on the market, yet Melbourne real estate sources yesterday claimed prospective buyers had been seen touring the five-bedroom property in ''prestigious'' William Street.
On Monday New Idea magazine first reported Warne was about to up stumps, news received with some incredulity given the magazine is engaged in a high-stakes battle with arch rival Woman's Day for any morsels of information, no matter how banal, relating to Warne, Hurley and his ex-wife Simone Callahan.
And yet, just last week, Hurley was reportedly looking for a Melbourne school to send her son Damian, leading to yet more media speculation she was the one about to relocate to Australia, which she later denied on Twitter.
According to London media, the pair have bought a Georgian mansion on the Gloucestershire-Herefordshire border featuring 187-acres of private grounds with the main residence comprising of 13 bedrooms and five bathrooms. The pair were noted in the local press inspecting the property.