Shane Warne's ex wife exposed as victim in secret paparazzi deals

Melbourne, June 10 (ANI): Shane Warne's former wife Simone Callahan was allegedly tricked into pre-arranged paparazzi photoshoots by her new boyfriend, who accepted money from photographers to stage romantic moments.

Boyfriend Toby Roberts, a then-unemployed ex-model, was paid by an intermediary in 2011 on behalf of paparazzo Jamie Fawcett to bring Callahan, 42, to pre-arranged settings including Bondi in Sydney, News.com.au reported.

The encounters were photographed by Fawcett and his then business partner Ben McDonald, who sold the photographs to New Idea and Woman's Day.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, several Australian celebrities accept cash or holidays in deals with photographers who sell faked "pap-shots" to glossy magazines.

Former Spice Girl Mel B, model Lara Bingle, singer Delta Goodrem and her ex-boyfriend Brian McFadden have all accepted inducements to pose for paparazzi despite the fact they frequently complain about privacy invasions.

Bingle and Danny Cipriani are said to have received an estimated 30,000 dollars from Big Australia for "romantic" shots of them in Bora Bora.

The intermediary in the Callahan photographs is understood to be Roberts's old school friend, Today Tonight's Melbourne reporter Jonathan Creek.

The magazines paid 52,000 dollars for the images, with the first set, taken at Mr Wolf sushi restaurant in Melbourne on February 9, 2011, selling to New Idea for 10,000 dollars.

Half of that sum went to Creek via a bank account held in the name of Tune In Media, which he runs with his wife Brittany.

The money was paid by Oceanic Media Group, a now-defunct agency run by Fawcett and McDonald.

The second set, taken on March 4, 5 and 6 at North Bondi and Tamarama, became a Woman's Day spread on March 21, 2011.

The story said the pair were "smitten" and appeared as "lovestruck teens". Roberts, the article said, was "a tall, dark and handsome model-turned business manager with a body to swoon over".

Woman's Day paid 42,000 dollars, of which 50 per cent went to Roberts and Creek.

It is believed Roberts never dealt directly with paparazzi.

Celebrities allegedly make deals worth between 10 million dollars and 20 million dollars per year in a bid to control their images. (ANI)