UNDERWEAR model and convicted drug user Michelle Leslie had two Cinderella moments on her return to Australia yesterday — first losing a shoe in a media scrum at Sydney airport followed by a happily-ever-after reunion with millionaire boyfriend Scott Sutton.

Amid continuing efforts by her media manager Sean Mulcahy to sell her story, something even John Howard said yesterday he was opposed to, Leslie arrived in Sydney from Singapore determined to keep her powder dry.

Mr Mulcahy, who was hired by Mr Sutton immediately after her arrest three months ago to handle the media, said Leslie finally met Mr Sutton and her parents yesterday afternoon somewhere on Sydney’s northern beaches.

UNDERWEAR model and convicted drug user Michelle Leslie had two Cinderella moments on her return to Australia yesterday — first losing a shoe in a media scrum at Sydney airport followed by a happily-ever-after reunion with millionaire boyfriend Scott Sutton.

Amid continuing efforts by her media manager Sean Mulcahy to sell her story, something even John Howard said yesterday he was opposed to, Leslie arrived in Sydney from Singapore determined to keep her powder dry.

After a few words to the waiting press at the airport – “I am really tired, the events of the last three months have turned my life upside down” – she was escorted by a team of Protective Service officers into a waiting black BMW, losing a shoe in the process.

Her vehicle was one of three identical cars, which then tried to put the pursuing press pack off the scent.

Leslie, 24, went to the inner-west suburb of Balmain, where she boarded a water taxi in an effort to make her escape.

Mr Mulcahy, who was hired by Mr Sutton immediately after her arrest three months ago to handle the media, said Leslie finally met Mr Sutton and her parents yesterday afternoon somewhere on Sydney’s northern beaches.

“It was a very emotional reunion, a lot of tears shed. She’s just very glad to be back home,” he said.

Mr Mulcahy last night told The Australian his remaining business commitment to Leslie was to sell the story she said would clear her name, “then she’ll move on with her career”. He said he had received several offers.

But the Prime Minister was counselling Leslie against seeking to profit from her conviction.

“Many Australians, including me, do not believe that she should profit from telling her story,” Mr Howard said yesterday.

Last night, New Idea magazine backed away from its negotiations for Leslie’s story after federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison warned she should take legal advice before proceeding, given the robust laws that precluded Australians from profiting from the proceeds of crime even if committed overseas.

“Although, like the rest of the media in Australia, we appreciate the interest in this story, New Idea does not pay convicted criminals,”the company said in a statement.

As recently as Monday, the magazine’s editor, Robyn Foyster, told The Australian it was waiting on legal advice to clear the way for a purchase.

Commercial television networks are also understood to have ruled out bidding for Leslie’s story.

However, media and public relations expert Max Markson praised Leslie’s legal and PR team for the way they handled her situation.

“If you have talent like that and the media want the story, the only way you can possibly maintain the exclusivity is by taking them off to a safe house and putting them somewhere,” he said.

Mr Markson said the few sentences that Leslie spoke to the media, far from ruining the exclusivity, would only prime the interest inthe story further.

However, celebrity agent Harry M. Miller said the people surrounding Leslie had been talking too much. “My advice to everyone is to shut up.”

Also published on news.com.au