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Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The Veronicas star Jessica Origliasso and her fiancée Alex Smith are the picture of domestic bliss in Brisbane
Jessica Origliasso and fiancée Alex Smith enjoyed a casual day out in Brisbane on Saturday, in spite of terrible weather. The couple were spotted on busy shopping and food strip James Street in Fortitude Valley to enjoy a morning coffee. The Veronicas star, 40, went casual for the weekend outing, stepping out in a black Chrome Hearts hooded jumper. The relaxed fit jumper featured a yellow and orange patten on the sleeves and a long hood drawstring. It also comes with quite an 'uncasual' price tag of $3000. Jessica matched her luxe hoodie with a black leather A-line skirt that flowed freely down her trim pins. She finished her look with a pair of chunky black Balenciaga combat-style boots with a $1750 price tag. Going make-up free for the outing, Jessica wore her raven locks back in a tight ponytail. She accessorised simply, too, carrying her mobile phone which she occasionally looked to as the couple strolled. Alex, meanwhile, also dressed casually in a dark grey T-shirt that she wore over a chocolate brown zip-up sweater. She also wore a pair of dark grey pants and a pair of black and white Nike sneakers, finishing her look with a black baseball cap. While Jessica was content to scroll on her phone, Alex's hands were otherwise occupied with what appeared to be a cold brew coffee and a café treat in a brown paper bag. The couple appeared comfortable and relaxed in each other's company as they walked amid the rainy Brisbane Saturday. The outing comes after the couple were spotted packing on the PDA after a romantic lunch date in Sydney earlier this month. The relaxed fit jumper featured a yellow and orange patten on the sleeves and a long hood drawstring. It also comes with quite an 'uncasual' price tag of $3000 Jessica and Alex enjoyed lunch at celebrity hotspot Mimi's in Coogee, before enjoying a stroll on an inclement Sydney day. The pair looked besotted as they embarked on a stroll after their romantic lunch date. They could be seen holding hands and beaming broadly as they walked amid an overcast day. Not ones to hide their love, Jessica and Alex stopped, at one point for a sweet smooch on the street. The couple were seen smiling as they looked into each other's eyes, lost in the tender moment. Jessica announced her engagement to fiancée Alex back in 2022 as she and her jewellery designer partner showed off their huge diamond rings. She posted photos of the pair all loved up to Instagram with the caption: 'WIFED. (Still crying a week later.) I've waited my whole life for you. 'I can't wait to marry you. Thank you to everyone for the love and comments the past week. I'm sorry if we haven't got back yet, I promise we will xx,' she continued. Jessica 'closed down' the Catacombs of Paris and proposed to Alex as they toured the tunnels lined with human skulls. She read out a speech to her Los Angeles-based love, who shed a few tears, before getting down on one knee. Jessica's sister Lisa commented on both posts. 'Mummy says well done my Jessie,' she wrote on the engagement video before later adding: 'PSA: Yes, everyone. I approve!' Jessica's romance with Alex came after she announced she had split from her American musician fiancé, Kai Carlton, in October 2020. She told fans she 'was not afforded any real explanation' for their separation, and wished to put the relationship 'behind her'. 'To all the souls messaging me about Kai - we are no longer together,' Jess told fans at the time. 'I was not afforded any real explanation to address this with clarity here,' Jessica added, hinting she was dumped by her former lover. Prior to Kai, Jessica was in a relationship with actress Ruby Rose. Jess and Ruby briefly dated in 2008 before rekindling their romance on set of The Veronicas' music video for On Your Side in 2016. They split once again in April 2018.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Monzo founder says the American dream is ‘antithetical' to British culture, where a ‘know your place' attitude kills innovation
When the CEO of Norway's $1.6 trillion oil fund called out the work ethic and ambition of his fellow Europeans, it hit a nerve. The founder of one of Britain's most exciting start-ups certainly doesn't buy the Americans-are-workaholics-Europeans-are-lazy theory for why the U.S. outperforms Europe. Tom Blomfield, the founder and ex-CEO of online bank Monzo, doesn't even think it's true that Americans work harder than Europeans. Instead, the difference among workers on each side of the Atlantic is one of 'positivity, optimism, and ambition,' he said this week on the 20VC podcast. Blomfield said the American dream wasn't a reality that a lot of people in the U.S. get to live, but it was one that a lot of them experience. 'That idea that anyone can create anything if they try hard enough is so deeply American, and it's so antithetical to the British culture,' he said. Blomfield was 28 when he co-founded Monzo in 2015. While he said people in the U.K. 'looked at me like I was crazy' as he tried to get a banking license, he had a much more supportive reaction in the States. The Brit said his fellow countrymen were more inclined toward a 'know your place, don't get too big for your boots' attitude that stifles innovation. In Blomfield's view, this filters down to the career decisions made by the country's most promising university students. In the U.K., Blomfield says the most ambitious thing for students to do is work at a trading firm like James Street or a consultancy like McKinsey. Indeed, he suggests the default choice for PhD students in computer science is to join Goldman Sachs. In the U.S., meanwhile, Blomfield says he'll often get pitched start-up ideas by students from unexpected backgrounds, including English Literature undergrads. Europe has been trying to understand how it can close a stubborn productivity gap with the U.S. for years, a fact most recently echoed by Sweden's central bank chief. The U.K. has also suffered through years of underperforming productivity. Because it is a per-worker metric, the easy answer has been to point the finger at the employee. In April, Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norway's $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, sparked a debate with his comments that there was a difference in the 'general level of ambition' between U.S. and European workers, adding that Americans work harder. Blomfield said he had read data suggesting that the latter wasn't the case. But his thoughts do align with another of Tangen's points, namely that it is easier to start again in the U.S. if a business fails than in the U.K. Backed by the 'American dream' ideal that Blomfield mentioned in his interview, the U.S. has long been more closely associated with entrepreneurialism and disruption than Britain, and Europe more widely. For example, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report by NatWest found that the early-stage entrepreneurial rate—which it defines as the propensity of individuals to be entrepreneurial in their given context—was 11.5% in the U.K. in 2022, while in the U.S. it was 16.5%. But instead of working a few more hours to close the gap, Brits might simply want to throw out a few more words of support to their ambitious peers. Monzo's former CEO will be highly attuned to the psychological obstacles to starting and sustaining a multi-billion dollar business. Blomfield stepped down from his executive role at Monzo in 2021. At the time, he spoke candidly about the impact that both scaling the start-up and working through the COVID-19 pandemic had on his mental health. 'I'm very happy to talk about what's gone on with me, because I don't think people do it enough,' Blomfield said, explaining how he didn't enjoy his final two years at the helm of the bank. Since Monzo left its 'scrappy' reputation behind it, the group has gone from strength to strength, with momentum growing for an IPO in the near future. In March last year, the bank announced a new fundraising round that landed it a valuation of £3.5 billion ($4.6 billion)—proof that at least one Brit didn't 'know his place'. Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared on on May 15, 2024. This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
