Arun Nayar

Arun is half-German and announces himself with a posh English accent. He is the eldest son of Vinod Nayar, a Bombay businessman, and Gunnar, his German mother who set up a lucrative textiles company in the city 30 years ago. After his parents` separation when he was young, Arun was brought up by his mother and was sent to the John Connon School in Bombay before embarking on a top-drawer British education. This was furnished by Millfield, the 20,000-a-year independent school in Somerset, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he read physics. Nayar and his younger brother Nikhil had earned a wild reputation being pretty extravagant and partying all the time, but each appeared to settle down after marriage. The brothers also set up a computer firm, Directions Software Solution, often reported as the source of Arun`s wealth. Nayar appears to be an indulged son making use of the family`s homes in France, Germany and London to enhance his jet-setting lifestyle. He also enjoys one of several luxury premises owned by the family in Bombay`s exclusive St James Court.

Eleven years ago he met Valentina Pedroni, a blonde part-time model in her home town of Milan. After a four-year courtship they married in Bombay, where Pedroni settled in but soon their marriage was in trouble. Pedroni had returned to Milan and was devastated to see pictures of her husband and Hurley holding hands and flirting at a Paris fashion show in January. Any doubts evaporated last month when the couple was spotted at a cosy lunch with Nayar`s mother in Bombay`s Oberoi hotel. Both parents were reported to have given there blessing to the match, but Nayar`s paternal grandmother refused to meet Hurley, affronted by photographs of the couple kissing in St Moritz. However, sources in Bombay claim Nayar has lodged a divorce petition with the city`s family court on the ground that he and his wife are estranged and that she lives overseas. Pedroni`s friends say she will fight the divorce tooth and nail. Nayar is Hurley`s first serious boyfriend since Steve Bing, the millionaire who dumped her after she revealed that she was pregnant with his son Damian. Her friends say that she is happier than ever at finding a "soul mate" in Nayar. Sceptics maintain that Hurley`s career since bursting into the limelight in a skimpy Versace dress has been one long, carefully choreographed photo-shoot. What better new highlight than a spectacular Indian wedding, they venture. The couple will not get officially engaged until Nayar has secured a divorce.