Marriages made for mogulettes

[Tasha]

From The Sunday Telegraph

Erica Baxter and Jodi Gordon are the latest to join an exclusive club.

At her hen's party on Friday night, billionairess-in-waiting, Erica Baxter, was not only celebrating her impending marriage to James Packer in France on June 16 - but also toasting what she had become: one of Australia's new breed of mogulettes.

With James Packer now a key media and gaming identity on the world stage, there is much attention on the woman behind him as the couple move in the rarefied circles of Hollywood and business royalty.

Fellow Scientology devotee Tom Cruise and his wife, Katie Holmes will attend the wedding along with a Who's Who of Packer's new social and business world.

Interestingly, while Baxter was about to go out in Bondi, the Logie-winning actress Jodi Gordon was winging her way to Port Douglas.

The Home and Away actress was heading for a rendezvous with her new boyfriend: Ryan Stokes, who is a son of Network Sevenand Pacific Magazines powerbroker, Kerry Stokes.

They attended the wedding of Ryan's younger brother, Bryant Stokes, 29,who yesterday married his sweetheart Emma Cochrane.

Other guests at the wedding included high-profile Sydney hotelier Justin Hemmes and Prime Minister John Howard's son Tim.

Although Gordon and Stokes' relationship was only made public after they were spotted together at the Logies, friends believe that the fresh-faced actress Gordon could also be on the fast track to becoming a mogulette.

Certainly Ryan Stokes, who is the chairman of Pacific Magazines, appears to be smitten with the 22-year-old, who recently had such sadness in her life with the March 3 death of long-term boyfriend Chris Burkhardt, 23 to an aggressive form of leukemia.

She had nursed him through 10 months of treatment.

Like Baxter, who is from Gunnedah, Gordon is also from the country.

She was born in Mackay, Queensland but moved down south to Sydney with her family at the age of eight.

Baxter also went to school in Sydney: at an exclusive private school on the north shore.

Gordon's dark, glossy, girl-next-door appeal - she plays Martha Mackenzie on Home and Away _ can be attributed to her wholesome family life.

A bit of a tomboy, she has always loved playing sport and played representative netball from the age of 12 to 16.

Also like Baxter, Gordon started her career as a model, working in London and Milan. It was only when she returned home that she auditioned for the soapie.

Baxter now only models occasionally, usually for friends but she is pursuing a singing career through Sony/BMG.

Her first album Through My Eyes has received some favourable reviews from the music critics.

She intends to continue her singing when she is married.

Ryan Stokes, 30, like James Packer has had a lion's size share of broken relationships.

He ended his long term relationship with TV presenter, Simone Kessell in 2004.

Even since then, Stokes has gained notoriety as one of Australia's most eligible bachelors.

However, while he has paid attention to a lot of young starlets, he has only proudly stepped out with Gordon.

The couple were spotted canoodling at David Jones food hall following the Logies and a very public date at Wildfire restaurant in the Rocks when they were again spotted kissing and canoodling.

However, Stokes clearly prefers to keep a lid on his new relationship which is why this weekend's trip to Port Douglas was shrouded in such secrecy.

Nevertheless there are many who believe that Jodi Gordon like Erica Baxter and Sarah Murdoch will become part of an elite group of Australian mogulettes.

[Sunny Girl]

At this rate, the media will be planning their wedding by next week to take place ASAP, in four weeks time ... Geez.

[Jasminka_13]

I wish they would leave her alone, bloody Media! She's been through so much in the past year you would've thought they would've given her a break, but NO! She has her own life, she makes her own choices, its her own business, geez, its not anyone elses business who she is or isn't dating!