British Olympic gold medalist boxer Audley Harrison was on hand in Calabasas on Sunday when his wife, celebrity hairstylist Raychel Harrison opened their new venture, Salon Nuuvo with a celebrity hair and fashion show.
Actresses Ziah Colon and Alyn Woods, British model Leilani Dowding and Calabasas Mayor Pro tem Mary Sue Maurer were among those who showed up to support the new salon.
The former heavyweight fighter met his future wife eight years ago when he walked into her salon in the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas to have his dreadlocks fixed. She told him that with all that hair the bill would not be less than $400. Audley asked if that would include her phone number. It didn’t.
Three times he went back on the pretext that one of the strands had come loose and finally she agreed to a date, but on condition that her best friend went along.
‘I wouldn’t go on a first date alone,’ she says.
‘And certainly not with one this big.’
Intriguingly, had she known who he was, she would never have accepted.
‘I don’t like celebrities. If he’d bragged about winning his gold medal I would never have gone out with him on our second date.’
Nor did she have anything but distaste for boxing. ‘I was always being offered tickets for the big fights but I never went.
‘When I glanced at it on TV I saw it as brutal, violent, barbaric. I couldn’t help thinking somebody’s son, husband or father was getting badly hurt.’
Little did she imagine that soon she would come to admire the craft of the sweet science.
‘The more I watch Audley and understand the skill and discipline it takes, the more I appreciate boxing,’ she says.
Equally, being with Raychel has tamed Audley.
‘I used to treat women terribly,’ he says.
‘But with Raychel I learned to respect them. She made my life perfect.’
Salon Nuuvo opened its doors at the Summit of Calabasas this January. It is open Tues. – Sat. 9-7pm and is located at: 26777 Agoura Road, B3, Calabasas, CA 91361. Or visit www.salonnuuvo.com
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