Real New Neighbors
Real Housewives of New Jersey alumna Dina Cantin is our rarefied enclave’s latest celebrity resident.
She and her husband David Cantin have just snapped up a nearly 6,000 square foot five bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom Tuscan-style villa for $16 million in Montecito.
The tony twosome relocated to the Left Coast in 2015, settling in Malibu.
Originally built in 1994, the property last sold in late 2020 for $4.8 million after significant renovations.
The couple also have a home in San Juan Capistrano and a condominium in Florida.
Prepping for a PSA
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are once again wading into U.S. politics, joining a campaign to warn American voters against disinformation in the upcoming presidential election.
The couple’s Archewell Foundation and other Hollywood political players are supporting an initiative to prepare U.S. voters for a possible onslaught of AI deep fake information, according to Axios.
The foundation is helping brainstorm new content for the campaign.
It is the second time round for the Riven Rock-based twosome to have got involved in a presidential election. In the 2020 contest, they urged Americans to sign up to vote and reject misinformation.
In other Sussexi news, the tony twosome are to debut two new Netflix series with Harry set to lift the lid off the world of International polo, while Meghan will celebrate cooking and gardening with her new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard.
Both are part of their multi-million-dollar deal with the streaming site.
Speaking Septuagenarian
Former TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey has reflected on turning 70 and how her Number One concern is her health in her later years in a candid new interview.
The longtime Montecito resident, who reached the milestone in January, says she “doesn’t live with a fear of death,” but is focused on a healthy lifestyle after losing more than 40 pounds in weight in recent months.
Speaking to People magazine as part of its 50th anniversary issue, Oprah says: “For everybody approaching this stage in your life, your number one concern is your health. I don’t live with a fear of death, but I Iive with a conscious acknowledgement it’s possible any time.”
Teenage Dream
Santa Barbara warbler Katy Perry has recalled her early struggles trying to break into the music industry, including getting cars repossessed and spending her early 20s “couch surfing.”
Katy, 39, looked back at chasing her dreams of stardom and rise to fame on ABC’s Good Morning America.
“It feels like yesterday to me,” she recalled.” I can smell it, taste it, hear it. All of it.”
Before becoming one of the bestselling music artists of all time, having sold more than 143 million records worldwide, the Grammy nominee admitted she barely scraped through by the skin of her teeth.
“I had cars repossessed. I had been signed and dropped three times. I was couch surfing. It’s so visceral for me.”
Katy, who is now estimated to be worth $400 million previously told People her parents, Keith and Mary, had to rely on food stamps and food banks to survive.
How times change…
Return to ‘Yellowstone’
Carpinteria actor Kevin Costner would “love” the opportunity to return to his role in the final season of the hit TV series Yellowstone.
While speaking about the highly anticipated sixth season of his hit Western drama, which is set to return this November, the Oscar-winner, 69, confirmed he is eager to get back to the Dalton Ranch.
“I’d like to able to do it, but we haven’t been able to,” he tells Entertainment Tonight. “I thought I was going to make several seasons, but right now we’re at five.
“They’ve got a lot of different options going on. Maybe it will, maybe this will circle back to me.
If it does and I feel really comfortable with it, I’d love to do it.”
Local Mom Doesn’t Like Social Media
Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the most prominent celebrities on social media who has used the platform to grow her successful multi-million-dollar wellness brand Goop.
But despite regularly sharing both personal and professional information, the Montecito-based Oscar winner still finds the concept of social media “difficult” and “uncomfortable” and doesn’t like posting or reading comments.
The actress-turned-wellness guru, 51, who has 8.3 million followers, says it was her team that convinced her to do her “Ask Me Anything” videos, where she shares details of her family and romantic life.
“I find it really difficult to be myself,” Paltrow told the U.K.’s Sky News, while promoting her new app Moments of Space.
“I don’t intuitively want to do it. I don’t post. I don’t like to read comments. I find it all an overwhelming proposition.
“However, I do understand it’s this great way to connect with an audience and to share things you’re working on, or if you’re trying to build enterprise value; you have to have engagement from people and customers.”
Cabana Sale
Cabana Home, the charming home furnishings store in the Funk Zone owned by Steve and Caroline Thompson, is on the move.
They are opening a new outlet in Fabled Gables, a landmark Italianate Victorian property opened in 1874 at 925 De la Vina Street.
“We are inspired by our European travels to inhabit a space with rich architectural details and socially significant provenance,” says Steve.
In alignment with their new direction, the dynamic duo is hosting a 60 percent off sale for four days from April 23 through April 26 at their current former bakery warehouse showroom on Santa Barbara Street.
Clearly still making dough…
Sightings
Prince Harry in Miami for a polo match for his African charity Sentebale… The Weakest Link host Jane Lynch breakfasting at the Montecito Coffee Shop… Stars Wars mogul George Lucas at the GQ Global Celebrity Awards in New York.
Pip! Pip!
