![Hot, not bothered: Jax Taylor from Vanderpump Rules says he doesn't have a personal life. Hot, not bothered: Jax Taylor from Vanderpump Rules says he doesn't have a personal life.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/7a28cffc-f0be-4d9e-9031-cab28b54b612.jpg/r0_0_1024_1367_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Hot, not bothered: Jax Taylor from Vanderpump Rules says he doesn't have a personal life. Hot, not bothered: Jax Taylor from Vanderpump Rules says he doesn't have a personal life.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/29a78572-1cab-4336-9272-09a65a39a751.jpg/r0_0_360_540_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Hot, not bothered: Jax Taylor from Vanderpump Rules says he doesn't have a personal life. Hot, not bothered: Jax Taylor from Vanderpump Rules says he doesn't have a personal life.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/ceffafc0-d3cb-4f29-a53b-22084df437f0.jpg/r0_0_360_427_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Perhaps Vanderpump Rules' resident lothario Jax Taylor is just misunderstood?
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The 35-year-old Sur bartender from the popular reality series has been meeting and greeting fans with cast-mate Tom Sandoval across Australia.
"My personal life is in a shambles. But everything else is wonderful!" says Taylor of his on-screen persona. "I don't really have a personal life, let's be honest. It's pretty much all out there. I live on a TV show that's reality. And if it's not on reality it's on Twitter or Instagram."
"It's kind of whack but I am OK with it."
Taylor's mum hails from Adelaide and has been down under many times.
"I love Australian women, because of my mother. It's really refreshing here," Taylor says. "The dating scene is a little different, Australian women are more independent and not so needy. It's really nice to see a well-rounded woman who doesn't need a man."
Taylor says he has heard it all when it comes to fans and bizarre propositions.
"I've had married men tell me they're giving their wife a 'hall pass' to be with me. I've had girls come up and say the most incredible … I don't really want to say here, but I am sure you can use your imagination," he smiles. "Even coming here, I was shocked how forward some people are. There is nothing right now that would surprise me."
Taylor doesn't have a girlfriend 'today' but ask him tomorrow, and that might change.
In spite of the fact that he and Sandoval brawled last season, when Tom discovered Jax slept with his girlfriend Kristen Doute, it seems the pair have patched things up and they are travelling together.
"We're guys, we get over things a little easier than women do. Especially women who live in LA, they hold a lot of grudges," Taylor says. "A lot has past since you saw that episode. We've both grown a lot."
"There is no need to hold grudges, life is too short. We've been friends a long time. It didn't make sense to throw away that friendship," he adds.
Despite also cheating on his own girlfriend Stassi Schroeder, Taylor insists he really isn't a bad guy.
"I do a lot of dumb, foolish things. I don't really think about things before I do them, that gets me into a lot of trouble," he admits.
Unable to reveal too much, Taylor confirms Stassi will be back for season three.
"She is around and despite what people say, everyone is back," he says. "Obviously I regret cheating on Stassi, it was not the right thing to do.
"We all make mistakes. It wasn't one of my finer moments and one of my major regrets."
Vanderpump Rules, season three coming soon on Foxtel's Arena.
Gin gets shaken up with new Potts Point joint
Whether you like your martini shaken or stirred, as long as it's gin you'll be sorted at bar consultant-restaurateur Grant Collins' new hot spot.
With more than 125 gins on offer, the yet-to-be-named venture in the Bayswater Road-Kellett Street precinct of Potts Point is a gin-soaked bar room queen's dream and will open mid next month.
"It's definitely a gin theme with very historical references to gin," says Collins. "The touch points of the history of gin will be showcased in the drinks and the food." "We'll also have a gin and tonic list from around the world. There's 25 different gin and tonics, all served with different botanicals, garnishes and presented differently too," says Grant. "You can certainly drink yourself around the world with gin at my bar. Global cocktail degustation.
"We also want to run a gin cocktail school and eventually we want to get people making their own gin.
"We're going to do high teas but not as you know them. They will be alcoholic high teas; miniature edible classic cocktails instead of little cakes and sandwiches. We'll serve them on the cake stand and we'll serve the 'tea' in a teapot but it won't be tea," he says. "We'll do fun things like that on a weekend. We want to offer the market something different and fun."
Collins is also the founder and managing director of Bar Solutions, an International bar consultancy company, which helps bars open cracker places to down a tasty beverage.
"They're all so different and everyone wants different things," says Collins of his current projects. "We're working on a exciting one at The Coronation Hotel. It's a '70s American dive-bar theme refurb.
"The bar industry is such a diverse market, there is room for everyone."
Collins will also launch his first book Mix It Up, which he has been pulling together since 2010, in early November.
"It's a book of classic, contemporary and progressive cocktail recipes. It has cocktail history in there too, starting from pretty much when alcohol was invented and when it first came to light," he says. "It traces the chronological history of alcohol and cocktails."
Collins will be sharing his cocktail expertise at food and wine festival Vino Paradiso, hosting a masterclass on October 31.
"We want to demonstrate the different eras of cocktails but also in different ways of serving the drink," says Collins. "We want to do something fun and approachable. It's Friday night, a good time for people to relax and kick back. There will be plenty of sampling!"
Showjumping ramps up the glamour
Equestrian is the new black and showjumping is riding high on the resurgence in popularity of the sport.
If polo and racing are the sport of kings, showjumping is the glamorous princess. For the first time, the Showcase of Showjumping will be held alongside The Sydney Gold Cup (polo) at Peter Higgins' stunning Sydney Polo Club property in Windsor.
The elite event will see past and present Olympians jumping for a prize pool of more than $50,000.
Chic Model Management director Kathy Ward is deeply involved in the spectacular sport.
"Showjumping is definitely right up there when it comes to glamour. Especially on the European front, it is really taking hold and having an impact," says Ward, whose husband, Peter O'Connell, founder and chairman of Amaysim, is sponsoring the premium Grand Prix class. "In Australia everyone can do it, everyone can participate, from pony club to elite level."
"I think what happens internationally always impacts on Australia – like fashion," says Ward. "There is an International tournament called the GCT (Longines Global Champions Tournament) which goes all over Europe and even to Shanghai, China. It has created more awareness due to live-streaming on the internet."
Showjumping is an exciting spectator sport. Like sitting on the "S" bend of a car racetrack, grabbing a seat ringside will guarantee thrills and spills.
"People can go along and understand what's going on quite simply. If a horse drops a rail on a course, they will be penalised,"Ward says. "You're close to the action, it's straightforward and exciting. The tension that can build up in a Grand Prix class (jumping 1.6 metres) is amazing."
"Watching these amazing horses, such as Visage, who is a World Cup coloured stallion and a crowd favourite, and riders like Brooke Campbell, is just incredibly entertaining," Ward says.
One of the beauties of showjumping is competitors continue to compete at an age most elite sportspeople don't. Equestrian royalty and three-time Olympian, Vicki Roycroft, is 62.
"You look at the number of older people still competing, here and overseas, it's remarkable," Ward says.
For information and tickets contact showcaseofshowjumping@gmail.com
MacSween opens up about cancer fight
Prue MacSween has attended Cancer Australia's Pink Ribbon breakfast for as long as she can remember but tomorrow's event will be different.
The former journalist and media commentator will attend the event at the Westin Hotel as a breast cancer survivor. MacSween was diagnosed with a malignant tumour in her breast in March but after intense chemotherapy and lumpectomy, her future is looking very bright.
"I've always had mammograms religiously and I periodically checked my breasts but not as often as I should have because I was lulled into that sense of security with the mammogram," MacSween says. "In March I felt a lump, I was going to the GP anyway because I was going overseas, I wanted to have a check-up. I happened to mention it as I was leaving. She sent me for an ultrasound, then I had a biopsy the next day and it was confirmed malignant. It was quite big and aggressive.
"I cancelled my trip. I thought I'd have an operation straightaway. But they did chemo first, I had six rounds of it. I lost my hair after the first lot," MacSween says. "It's the most vile thing you could ever go through. You feel like you've got an alien in your body – and you do."
She underwent her operation six weeks ago and told her surgeon to remove her breasts if it meant getting rid of the cancer.
"The chemo had shrunk it so much, I only had to have a lumpectomy. And because I would've been lopsided, they had to make my other boob smaller, so I've now got very pert jugs!" she says. "So there's got to be something good about all this.
"I am starting radiation next week for three weeks. The operation was a success and they believe they've got it all. Then I'll be on drugs for the rest of my life but that's a small price to pay," she says.
"We often take our boozies for granted but we need to really get to know them and check for any changes," MacSween says. "Your life depends on it."
Pink Ribbon breakfast events are held throughout October, see www.canceraustralia.gov.au
New Year's Day at Icebergs
New Year's Day is the 'new' New Year's Eve with chic day parties replacing all-night revelry for Sydney's glamour set. Maurice Terzini started it all 12 years ago at his two-hat Bondi restaurant Icebergs. If you desperately want to be one of the cool kids, get your skates on. Ticket registration opens at 9am on November 1 via email submission and for a mere $400 you'll get free-flowing Veuve Cliquot, Ciroc Vodka and delicious canapes to go with Bondi Beach's iconic view. "The 2015 event will be our best yet," Maurice says. "With a belter of a line-up and a pumping sound system, the place is going to be rocking." For more information, contact VIP2015@idrb.com
Morsel
Entrepreneur Ron Creevey has a soft-spot for Kings Cross. So much so, the 42-year-old has opened the doors to the X Studio, a world-class creative space to perform, film, record and broadcast, smack bang underneath the iconic glow of Kings Cross's Coke sign. Within the X Studio are six spaces named in line with the colourful history of the Cross. Roosevelt is the radio and live broadcast facility; green room Bohemia and Carousel is a bar and film screening space – all with floor to ceiling views out to bustling Kings Cross and fitted with automatic blinds to keep out prying eyes when the famous types 'want to be alone'. The site also includes a 500-capacity venue.
"Our mission with the X Studio is to play our part to resurrect Kings Cross as the entertainment hub of Sydney, broadcasting and hosting the world's greatest performers and be a place where new iconic moments in time are created that will continue to add to the story of Kings Cross," he says.