Neale Whitaker: 'My first job was the inspiration for Absolutely Fabulous'

You may know Neale Whitaker as the stylish design guru on The Block and editor-in-chief of Vogue Living.

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But did you know the well-spoken Londoner started his career in a way that can only be described as Absolutely Fabulous, darlings?

You see, Neale’s first ever full-time job in the early 1980s was working for Lynne Franks, when “she was at the top of the tree in terms of fashion PR in London”.

Clients of Ms Franks at the time included Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French, who took inspiration from what went on behind close doors to create their TV smash hit comedy Absolutely Fabulous.

“In those years of meetings, there was a lot of note taking going on because when that series launched, every character was identifiable,” spills Neale.

This little gem of Neale’s past is just a rare glimpse into the story that maketh the man, and far from being intimidating, Neale claims he hasn’t been invited over for a dinner party in years thanks to his time on The Block.

“People think I’m going to walk into their house and immediately start judging everything out of 10 – of course I don’t,” he says.

But I think with stories as Fab as this one, Neale is the perfect dinner party guest.

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