DICKIE’S SURPRISE WEDDING
GEORGE AND AMAL ARE PLANNING A SECRET RETURN TO THE US
Love was certainly in the air when Richard ‘Dickie’ Wilkins and his girlfriend Virginia Burmeister were recently spotted celebrating at a lunch in Sydney.
Just days earlier, some of the couple’s closest friends and family flew in from London and New York, with Virginia taking to social media – sparking rumours that perhaps Dickie and his ladylove are set to throw a surprise wedding.
“Living our best lives,” Virginia captioned an Instagram snap of her and her pals making a toast.
News of a wedding first surfaced last year when Dickie’s son Christian revealed his father would most likely tie the knot.
“Maybe [they will marry], they are very happy together,” he said at the David Jones spring summer 2019 event.
“I love Virginia and me and my dad are best friends,” the
Dancing with the Stars contestant added.
It is believed Dickie popped the question back in July after he posted a picture of his soon-to-be bride outside a luxurious jewellery store on the romantic Italian island of Capri.
Dickie and Virginia went public with their relationship in October 2017.
One of the world’s most powerful couples might be headed back to Hollywood! New Idea can exclusively reveal that George Clooney is planning a multimillion-dollar expansion of his mansion in Los Angeles.
The news comes just after his UK home, which he shares with wife Amal and 2-year-old twins Ella and Alexander, became surrounded by floodwater in the wake of Storm Dennis.
The two-time Oscar winner is set to spend a staggering $1.6 million on upgrading his Studio City pad, with an extra three buildings being added to the property.
Building plans show George is installing a pizza oven, funicular and a “proposed play cottage”, causing speculation he and Amal are planning to raise their twins – who turn 3 in June – in the United States.
Neighbours of the Hollywood property reveal construction is well under way and that George appears to be rushing to complete the works in a short period of time. One of his neighbours, Tanya, tells New Idea: “George was granted those permits lightning fast.”
With George spending over $50,000 to obtain the permits, Tanya says, “If he was a regular person they would have eaten his liver for two years just to get that kind of permit.”
Locals in the area have also been whispering about the real reason George may have worked so hard to get the permits approved. “He is upgrading the house because he’s getting ready to run for office,” Tanya says.
“He’s always expressed a lot of interest in politics.”
“My guess is that he wants to run for mayor of Los Angeles when [current mayor] Eric Garcetti’s term ends,” she says.
“George held a fundraiser for Obama on the tennis court here and another for Hillary Clinton where it was [$1500] a plate. He’s big in the Democratic Party.”
Mayor Garcetti must step down at the end of 2022,
around the same time the twins will start school.
In 2017, George joked about becoming president of the United States during the Venice Film Festival. George, whose father Nick Clooney ran for congress in 2004, said, “Would I like to be the next president? Oh, that sounds like fun.”
But will their rumoured move back to the US cause tension between George and Amal, who have lived in the UK since 2015? The majority of Amal’s barrister work is undertaken from their Sonningon-thames home, 60km west of London. Amal’s mum, Baria Alamuddin, and her father, Ramzi, both live within driving distance of the Clooney home.
In fact, Amal’s entire family is located in the UK, after they fled Lebanon during the civil war when Amal was just a child. The potential separation of Amal and her twins from her family will no doubt be a source of conflict for her and George, who are said to be spending less and less time together.
George has been busy directing Netflix’s upcoming film The Midnight Sky – which just wrapped production.
However, a move to the United States and George’s rumoured political future could work well for the human rights lawyer, who has always strived to make the world a better place. Being a political wife in the US would no doubt give Amal more power to influence policies and laws, especially if George were to run as a candidate in the next presidential election.
Amal would likely cease her work as a barrister to support her husband’s ambitious political career, but would be able to provide valuable advice for George’s decision making.
Regardless, the couple are devoted to providing the best life for Ella and Alexander, and George has already spoken about his plans for his young children’s future. “They’re really funny and really smart,” he told Hello! last year.
“We’ve decided, because we spend a lot of time in Italy and they’re going to spend a lot of time growing up there, that Italian is going to be one of the languages they learn.”
And with a strong Italian community in the US, they won’t be short of practice.