Celebrity hairdresser Joh Bailey is famous for his "stretch and burn" blow-drying technique, which has well-heeled Sydney socialites clamouring to part with $400 for a "private session" with the hair maestro.
But, on Thursday morning, it was Bailey's hard-won reputation that was being stretched and burnt.
Reports have surfaced claiming Bailey was "taking a back seat" from his business empire to seek help for "substance abuse" issues, following an incident at Sydney gay bar Stonewall amid claims he was asked to leave the venue.
But that was news to Bailey himself, who was driving to work from Bowral as the lurid headlines began.
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Rather, said the man who has tended the tresses of everyone from the late Princess Diana to Elle Macpherson, it was "business as usual, nothing has changed, I am not taking a back seat nor am I out of control."
Bailey told PS he was as "bewildered" as anyone over the story published in The Daily Telegraph, and would "talk to a lawyer".
However, the Tele's report also quotes Bailey saying: "Recently I've crossed the line in terms of the way I want to conduct my life. I am doing what has to be done to get healthy."
Bailey told PS he did not speak directly to the paper, but rather gave it a statement that appeared in the article, which repeatedly refers to claims of "substance abuse".
"And it is true that I have been disappointed with my own behaviour and I have promised my business partner Marilyn Koch that I will no longer drink in public, but I am hardly out of control," Bailey told PS.
"Yes I might have been a bit tipsy but I wasn't punching people or being disgraceful ... a lot of people have a few drinks and they don't make the next day's paper ... but apparently I do."
Bailey has previously spoken about his battle with booze and has sought counselling for many years to bring his drinking under control, including a period of complete abstinence, which lasted for several years.
"I am really sick of this. I have to explain myself to my elderly father every time these stories come out, it is really embarrassing and it is not true ... I was leaving the bar, I wasn't thrown out ... but yes I have been disappointed in my behaviour and that it has become a press story ...that's why I have made a commitment to Marilyn ... but other than that, it is business as usual. I take my work very seriously, I don't turn up hang over to do people's hair."
The Telegraph also reported claims that Bailey was asked to leave the wedding of two of his star hairdressers in Bali amid claims he was unruly during the ceremony. The hairdresser later denied this to PS, claiming he had been "stitched up" and left when it became clear he was no longer welcome at the celebrations, although he had posed with a smiling bride Mariah Rota during the reception.
He later sent a message to Rota, saying he was "ashamed", but disputes he deliberately set out to ruin the wedding.
As for an incident at his salon during filming of the Real Housewives Of Sydney television series, Bailey's mild wisecracks paled next to the behaviour of the "wives", including a bizarre cameo appearance from controversial socialite Lizzie Buttrose.