Billionaire threatens to close down Harvey Nicks after High Court battle over unpaid debt

Both are billionaires, but their stylistic differences couldn’t be more striking.

In one corner is Mike Ashley, 61, the pugnacious founder of Sports Direct; With his well-upholstered body and cannonball head, he is perhaps the easiest to imagine in Newcastle United’s black and white jersey, despite having sold the club in 2021.

Opposite him in the other corner is Stephen Rubin, an 88-year-old philanthropist with a bow tie and a crown of snow-white hair. Although he runs a business dynasty that owns numerous sports and outdoor brands, including Lacoste and Berghaus, and also holds a majority stake in JD Sports, he has avoided publicity throughout his life.

Because 15 years after Ashley announced that she would ‘finish’ her other rival JJB Sports and then ‘move to JD’, it seems only a matter of time before the two are at odds again.

I can tell you that days ago Rubin and his family launched a dramatic lawsuit in the Supreme Court against Harvey Nichols over an unpaid debt. Last Thursday, one of Rubins’ companies published a closure petition against department store ‘Harvey Nicks’ in London’s Knightsbridge, which gained global attention.HEIt’s almost a second home to Patsy and Edina in the 1990s sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley.

Such a petition forces a company to close unless its debts are paid, which would have been unthinkable during the store’s Ab Fab heyday. This will certainly alert Ashley, who is said to be eyeing regional stores in cities such as Bristol and Edinburgh.

How many people would bet against him catching them? Ashley once challenged a young Polish analyst to a drinking contest, defeating him by drinking 12 pints and then chasing vodka, and celebrated by vomiting into the fireplace.

But Harvey Nichols may have to wait a bit before getting its hands on any of its pieces. He assures me that the Rubins, who have refused to comment, have been ‘paid off’.

A sinner is a saint next to ladies…

It took Jannik Sinner more than three hours to defeat his great rival Carlos Alcaraz on Center Court last summer, but it didn’t take long for the Wimbledon champion to attract the attention of some of society’s most beautiful women this week.

At Claridge’s in Mayfair, the 24-year-old Italian tennis star was joined within minutes by Kate Moss’s daughter Lila, 23, King Charles’ goddaughter Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece, 29, Swiss-Lebanese designer Sabine Getty, 41, and socialite Camille Charriere, 38.

Sinner could tell his absent girlfriend, 25-year-old Swedish model Laila Hasanovic, that the dinner was a night hosted by Gucci, for which he is a “global brand ambassador.”

Good job if you can get it!

Will Andy Burnham be the ‘new Liz Truss’? I ask this because the so-called ‘King of the North’ will have to go north of the border if he is to become Prime Minister next month as expected.

Liz Truss made the 1,800-mile round trip from London to Balmoral in September 2022 after Queen Elizabeth asked her to form a government following Boris Johnson’s resignation. The Queen died two days later and Truss’ premiership lasted a further 47 days.

King Charles will also be at his private Highlands retreat. Alternatively, Burnham could ask Her Majesty to cut short her summer holiday and return to London to meet her. But this is unlikely to get her relationship with the monarch off on the right foot.

Emma’s Matt shares marriage secrets

Emma Willis’ husband Matt says their marriage has benefited from counseling

New Strictly Come Dancing presenter Emma Willis attended couples counseling with husband Matt and discovered a minor issue causing ‘major’ problems in their marriage.

‘We had the same thing come out in our relationship,’ admits Busted star and former I’m A Celebrity winner Matt. ‘I won’t go into too much detail, but it’s the same thing, the same conversation over and over again, getting nowhere.’

He adds: ‘When we actually got to the root of this, we never had this problem again.

‘When I thought about it it was very small but actually it was very big. And now, when we look back, we see that this was everything that kept us from truly loving.’

James Holt, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s closest advisor who failed to help them become Hollywood power players, is now joining another lost cause.

Holt, who worked for the couple from 2019 until last year and featured heavily in Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, is returning to the Liberal Democrats as ‘Political Director’ of Sir Ed Davey’s struggling party. ‘This opportunity feels like coming home in more ways than one,’ says Holt, a former Liberal Democrat spokesman.

Nathalie keeps her cool during heatwave in Italy

As Missandei advisor to Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, Nathalie Emmanuel was used to dealing with fire-breathing dragons.

But in real life, the actor is having a hard time coping with the fiery month of June.

Nathalie, 37, was spotted using a handheld fan at the Giorgio Armani fashion show during Milan Fashion Week.

The mercury in the Italian city rose to 40C this week.

Opera star Danielle de Niese, who attended the Royal Carriages at Ascot last week, revealed that she kept quiet while expecting a child.

‘I lost my singing voice when I was pregnant and I was in a complete panic,’ admits the 47-year-old lyric soprano, who has two children with husband Glyndebourne Festival Opera chairman Gus Christie, 62. ‘The only increase was that my voice sounded super sexy. I talked like a Bond girl, but my vocal cords weren’t vibrating well.

‘I went to see my doctor. He looked at my cables. She said: ‘Oh, they’re filled with fluid because you’re going to have a baby in three weeks.’