Revenge star Ashley Madekwe talks off-field fashion

Revenge star Ashley Madekwe. Source: Supplied

Debbie Schipp, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

She may not be familiar with the form guide or the Melbourne Cup field, but Revenge star Ashley Madekwe is set to kick it home in the fashion stakes at Flemington on Tuesday.

Madekwe, who plays scheming social climber Ashley Davenport on hit US drama Revenge, flies into Australia today as Channel 7's Melbourne Cup guest.

The British-born actress scored a couple of days off filming the second season of Revenge to make the trip, where she will indulge her love of fashion.

"I've never been to the races. The closest I've been is polo, but I'm excited," Madekwe says.

Madekwe started her own personal style blog, Ring My Bell, in 2008, and its popularity has gone through the roof since Revenge became a hit.

She is heavily involved in styling her character Ashley on the program.

"It's the perfect clothes horse show, and our costume director comes in with a huge rack, presents the items she thinks are great, and we decide together," Madekwe says. "On shooting days I have all my accessories and I style the final look."

Madekwe will frock up in an Australian designer's outfit for Cup day, but the jury is out on whether she'll wear a hat, a fascinator, or go without a headpiece.

"I know it's supposedly required, but I looked and Sarah Jessica Parker didn't, so maybe I can get away with it too," she says.

Madekwe shot episode nine of Revenge before heading to Melbourne and says viewers can expect to see a tougher Ashley - and learn more of her back story - in season two.

"I don't know that she's going to be more nasty or conniving - well, maybe a little - it's just she is going to be more out for herself," she says.

And expect fireworks between Ashley and one of the show's biggest personalities.

Revenge was Seven's biggest drama hit this year, averaging 1.8 million viewers, and season two will headline Seven's 2013 ratings assault following the network's Australian Open tennis coverage.

Madekwe married fellow actor Iddo Goldberg (the pair met as co-stars on Showtime series Secret Life of a Call Girl) in England in June, but he isn't coming to Melbourne with her.

Instead, she will have great mate Tolga Safer, who had a role in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in tow, and plans to catch up with another pal, Mischa Barton, who is a guest of Emirates on Cup day.

"I haven't seen Mischa since our wedding. She's been in England and I've been in LA so we have swapped lives. I can't wait to surprise her," Madekwe says.

Revealed: The stars racing to the track for Spring Carnival

Aussie icon: Nicole Kidman. Source: Supplied

Ros Reines, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

When Sarah Jessica Parker was Crown Casino's guest at Oaks Day last year, she generated an estimated $16 million worth of publicity for the entertainment giant in Australia alone.

Little wonder marquee hosts have been celebrity shopping all year to try to attract the really big names to Flemington.

Our own Nicole Kidman will lead the celebrity pack, flying home for 24 hours from the south of France where she is filming her latest flick.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla are expected to be at Flemington as guests of the Victoria Racing Club on Cup Day. Hosted by the VRC chairman Michael Burn and his wife Fiona, the Royals are expected to be in the VRC Committee Room and will watch the race from the Chairman's Box.

It would be Prince Charles' second time at the Melbourne Cup - he visited Flemington with Princess Diana in 1985.

Crown Casino will have two marquees this year with James and Erica Packer hosting a new Birdcage hospitality suite in a prime location on the front row.

The Packers will entertain their high-profile friends and business associates including Shane Warne and Elizabeth Hurley, who are likely to make this marquee their first call.

Emirates has an Irish theme this year; The OC star Mischa Barton will hold court there on Cup Day along with reality star Brynne Edelsten and her husband, Geoffrey, Channel Seven personalities and MasterChef judges. Australian make-up guru Napoleon Perdis is also expected to make an appearance there.

Car maker Lexus will host guests in a three-level marquee again this year with a courtyard designed by Backyard Blitz's Jamie Durie with Neil Perry preparing the food. Guests will include Karl Stefanovic, Lisa Wilkinson, Terry Biviano and husband Anthony Minichiello, Emma Freedman, Eddie and Carla McGuire, Anthony Bell, Kelly Landry, John Eales, Deborah Hutton and Carrie Bickmore.

Myer CEO Bernie Brookes will have supermodel Jennifer Hawkins and the store's designers and racing ambassadors including Laura Dundovic, Rebecca Judd, Rebecca Twigley and Kris Smith in the pretty, flower-themed marquee.

Mumm Champagne will rely on some well-seasoned Sydney socialites including Skye Leckie to invite some of their own guests to enjoy the French bubbly.

Meanwhile, Lavazza is expected to build on its reputation as the hippest marquee in the Birdcage with a still to be announced line-up. In previous years they have hosted everyone from Joel and Benji Madden to Kelly Osbourne.

Birdcage for fallen Angels star

Rachael Taylor is set to return to Melbourne for the races. Source: AP

Article by Fiona Byrne, Herald Sun

IT is a case of one door closing and another opening for talented Australian actor Rachael Taylor.

The demise of her US TV show, Charlie's Angels, has meant that Taylor can now jet home to Australia and lap up the attention in the Flemington Birdcage.

Taylor is expected to be among the guests in the corporate enclosure on Derby Day, with the Russian-themed Emirates marquee tipped to be her primary destination.

The luxurious surrounds of the leviathan marquee will be familiar to Taylor.

Scenes for her next film, Any Questions For Ben, were shot in the Emirates marquee during Melbourne Cup week last year.

It was on the set of the film, which is the brainchild of the Working Dog team and is due for release in January, where Taylor met boyfriend Josh Lawson, who was one of her co-stars.

In a second link to the marquee, Taylor filmed the yet-to-be-released sci-fi flick The Darkest Hour in Russia in August last year.

Taylor's starry ride in the US came to an abrupt halt last week when the much-hyped remake of the TV favourite Charlie's Angels was axed after ghastly ratings in the US and abroad.

While the three leads, Taylor, Annie Ilonzeh and Minka Kelly looked good, there was simply no interest from viewers.