Dressed down in oversized jumpers and sunglasses strolling across the car park of a luxury rug store in Los Angeles, they looked like any other couple shopping for homewares.
But this wasn‘t just ‘any other couple’ and the purpose of their outing was not to pick out new carpets.
For why would two people worth a combined £1.6billion with an army of assistants at their fingertips be running their own errands?
In fact this was a thinly veiled PR stunt by two of the most brand-conscious figures on the planet – Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton and the reality star Kim Kardashian.
What has played out between them over the past four months has been, in my opinion, one of the most expensive, elaborate and utterly unconvincing ‘showmances’ to date.
An industry insider tells me: ‘It’s a blatant set up. But Kim knows what she’s doing. “Kim and Lewis interiors shopping?” It’s an easy link to “They are moving in together” and the interest in them as a couple is fuelled for another week.
‘If Kim wanted a rug, she would have the very best retailers coming to her house where she could pick one from the comfort of her sofa.’
The 45-year-old beauty and shapewear guru admitted on her sister Khloe Kardashian’s podcast recently that she had not been to a supermarket in 15 years, apart from for a set-up scene for their hit Hulu reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Kim admitted: ‘I feel like we went to [organic store] Erewhon on our show. But before that, like maybe 12 years, it’s probably like 15 years.’
Because if Kim Kardashian does not want to be seen, she will not be.
Lewis Hamilton and Kim Kardashian pictured out ‘shopping for rugs’ in Los Angeles… a thinly veiled PR stunt by two of the most brand-conscious figures on the planet, writes Dolly Busby
The pair were later seen frolicking on the beach near Kim’s Malibu home… in an image also captured by the celebrity photo agency Backgrid
The pair appeared not to notice the photographer stationed metres from the beach
For almost a decade she was married to the controversial but highly private rapper, Kanye West, before filing for divorce in 2021.
The pair have four children together – North, 12, Saint, ten, Chicago, eight, and Psalm, six – and little was known about what they got up to unless it was aired on the family’s lucrative TV show.
So private was her life with the now-disgraced rapper, 48, that in 2019 she told her sisters on their show: ‘It’s like, where are the places I can go where no one will see us?’
As for 41-year-old Lewis Hamilton, he dated Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger on and off for eight years until 2015 and, though they were often seen at public events, they were rarely spotted just nipping out at the shops.
So it’s hard to believe in the less than four months Kim and Lewis have been ‘an item’, the ten times they have been ‘spotted’ are by accident.
A major clue is the fact that every time the couple are snapped it’s by the same photography agency – Backgrid. It’s an open secret in the industry that if a celebrity has been photographed by the LA-based agency it often means the pictures are staged or a photographer has been tipped off by the star or their publicist.
Kardashian, who has been performing in the media circus for almost two decades, is known, industry insiders tell me, to have close ties with the agency – dating back to her early days when she was a fame hungry socialite.
As one source told me: ‘If Kim is pictured by them, it’s almost always on purpose. You could not get more well-versed in creating a very specific public image than Kim.
‘But she’s playing an amateur game here: this is a textbook showmance with Lewis. It’s farcical.’
The rug outing was, of course, captured by Backgrid, and then there are the most recent pictures of the couple frolicking in the ocean on a surfing excursion in Malibu.
Running down a seemingly empty beach, they fling themselves into the sea, the mother-of-four clinging to her ‘boyfriend’ as the waves crash around them.
They appear not to notice the paparazzo stationed metres away from the beach and, tellingly, they do not appear to have any security guards with them.
Which is almost unheard of for Kim, who was left ‘traumatised’ after she was robbed at gunpoint by eight masked men in Paris nearly a decade ago as millions of dollars’ worth of jewellery was taken.
It was also the first time in their four-month, heavily documented romance, that the so-called love birds have actually been caught kissing.
Kim and Lewis were spotted last weekend arriving at sushi restaurant Nobu, in an image again captured by Backgrid
Nobu has a reputation as a restaurant where celebs go to ‘be seen’
At least, it appears so. It cannot be said for sure from the blurry pictures whether they are actually locking lips.
For someone who knows the places to go where she will not be found, Kardashian is certainly making a habit of dragging Stevenage-born Hamilton to all of the LA celebrity hotspots.
Last Saturday the pair were spotted arriving at the sushi restaurant Nobu, not far from Kardashian’s £23million beachfront property in Malibu, where celebs go to ‘be seen’.
As they left arm in arm, she in a floor-length grey skirt and pink slouchy jacket oh-so-casually draped off one shoulder, and her new beau in a knitted cardigan, Backgrid just happened to be there again.
Ever the gentleman, Hamilton opened the door to the waiting £520,000 Maybach Mercedes and the influencer smiled as she got in.
The week before Kardashian had ‘hard launched’ – the Gen Z term for announcing the relationship – the Ferrari racing driver on her Instagram by sharing a snap of herself sitting on his lap at the US music festival Coachella.
Although her 353million followers couldn’t see his face, she gave fans just enough by revealing his tattooed hand (recognisable with a sword and Capricorn zodiac symbol).
The pair had attended the second weekend of the festival in the Californian desert together, with Kardashian wearing a ridiculously oversized balaclava.
Hamilton too seemed almost performative in his attempts to disguise himself – sporting a baseball cap, scarf and sunglasses – but luckily Backgrid managed to get a picture of them walking in front of the stage at Justin Bieber’s set.
As one industry source explained: ‘It’s the oldest trick in the book of being “accidentally found out” because it gives the relationship a more realistic edge.’
Take the mystery around their first rendezvous in January at Estelle Manor – the ultra-exclusive Cotswolds members’ club favoured by Hollywood actors, global financiers and high-powered fashion executives.
Details of their ‘discreet’ stay changed hands for £15,000 with a red-top newspaper. Where the proceeds of the money went to is anyone’s guess.
But if I am right this has been an expensive PR stunt for the couple who seem to have made it their mission to spread their showmance across the globe, no doubt spending hundreds of thousands in flights on private jets.
After their first meet-up in the Cotswolds, two days later Kardashian flew with Hamilton to Paris to promote the collaboration between Skims, her shapewear and clothing company, and Nike.
The pair were captured entering a Paris hotel together but the telling sign this was potentially intentional was when a source told People magazine – a US publication known to be called by celebs themselves with something to promote – it was a ‘romantic meet-up’.
Then off to Tokyo where they were spotted walking side by side, sending the internet into meltdown. Hamilton, who had just placed third at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, was due to race in Japan that weekend.
All of which begs the question – if it is a stunt, why are they doing this? Could it be for money?
Hamilton has achieved success many could only dream of, having won a record-equalling seven World Championships since joining the circuit in 2007.
But he is also a savvy businessman who has long harboured a desire to scale the upper echelons of global celebrity and the fashion elite.
And who better to facilitate this than the queen of branding culture herself, Kim Kardashian. They can help each other.
Since launching in 2019, Skims has been valued at $5billion (£3.7million) and owes much of its success to collaborations with some globally influential sports personalities such as Serena Williams, 44.
A source said: ‘F1 as a sport has grown massively in recent years and Kim will have recognised that. Lewis is a friend of the family, and both of them will be using that to their advantage.’
