Soneva Stars

Hailing from Canada, William (Bill) Gillespie is an experienced sport and athletic injury biomechanist with over 30 years of experience in movement and healthy behaviour modification. He has a diverse skillset that caters to patients of all ages and abilities. Bill is a Certified Exercise Physiologist, High-Performance Specialist and Accredited Kinesiologist. He is also trained in Reiki, Mindfulness, Pain Literacy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, and other areas that show his holistic approach to health and wellness. Additionally, he is recognised by Exercise is Medicine Canada and The Running Clinic for his work in promoting healthy movement practices.

Jo is a professional dancer, fitness instructor, sports massage therapist and wellbeing facilitator who specialises in contemporary dance and somatic practices. With extensive training in dance from various institutions in the UK and Australia, Jo completed her Master of Arts in Dance and Somatic Wellbeing. Having taught and performed extensively, Jo is passionate about using dance and movement as a healing resource for the mind, body, spirit, and soul. She believes that dance and movement can help develop a deeper connection to oneself and enhance the relationship with the lived body, even in the presence of pain and internal narratives.

Dedicated to helping individuals make meaningful lifestyle changes, Anna specialises in functional corrective movement training, with a core focus on stability. With a wealth of experience, Anna has helped individuals of all levels achieve their fitness goals, whether it’s preparing for a challenging ski trip, kayaking along the Swedish coast, recovering from pregnancy, or increasing golf swing power — guiding them on their fitness journeys, maintaining their progress, or challenging them to reach new heights. Anna’s expertise also extends to mobility and flexibility, and she offers private sessions in yoga, Pilates, stretching, mobility for sports, and rehabilitation. If you’re experiencing soreness or stiffness, Anna can also assist you with sports massage and assisted stretches.

Over the course of her 30-year osteopathic career, Amberin Fur has travelled the globe treating patients who range from newborns to nobilities. Widely considered a leader in her field, her many years of experience were shaped in elite sports and the performing arts, including the London 2012 Olympic Games and Cirque du Soleil. Her clinic, The Vital Practice, located in central London, offers a combination of osteopathy and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and has garnered her a global clientele who value her personalised approach to treatment. Taking an entirely holistic approach, Amberin incorporates a range of techniques into her patient protocols, including HBOT, medical acupuncture, medical homoeopathy and lifestyle medicine. Centring her practice around the mind-body connection, she takes time to understand the personal and psycho-social circumstances of each patient and considers the body, lifestyle and environmental factors that may be playing a part in their symptoms.

Wassim Hallal moved to Denmark in 1985 and, after working in some of the country’s best restaurants, opened his own place, Frederikshøj, in 2009. Housed within the former staff lodge of the Royal Palace, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star in 2015 and its second in 2022. The same year, Wassim was also awarded the Chef Mentor Award. His menus are a sensory journey in refinement and rendition without a horizon. Following the seasons, he creates technically superior and deeply personal dishes, with the utmost respect for his ingredients. Unrestrained by traditional conventions, he believes that care, excitement and dedication can be both felt and tasted. Wassim has also published several cookbooks and appeared on Hell’s Kitchen Denmark and MasterChef Denmark. He is also a proud ambassador for the Aarhus region, shining a light on the quality of local produce through his precise and creative cooking style.

A talented chef and restaurateur from New Zealand, Jane Alty opened The Begging Bowl in London over ten years ago. Her focus on using genuine Thai ingredients and techniques, paired with carefully sourced wines and unique cocktails, allowed her to introduce a true taste of Thai cuisine to a curious and dedicated public. Jane’s passion for Asian food led her to become the Executive Chef for Thai restaurant group Chaiyo Restaurants, where she currently oversees a collection of ambitious restaurants, each focusing on a specific region in Thailand. In June 2023, she will be opening a Northern Thai restaurant at the iconic Battersea Power Station in London, adding to the Chaiyo Restaurants collection and giving more people the opportunity to taste the incredible flavours of Thailand. Despite her formal training, Jane attributes many of the invaluable secrets she has learned to her time spent with Thai relatives on the outskirts of Bangkok. She is committed to sharing her passion for Thai cuisine and cooking with the wider world and is continuously looking for ways to help people understand the complexities and subtleties of the food she has fallen in love with. Jane has created a successful training ground for many incredible chefs, earning her a spot in the top 100 influential women in hospitality.

Andrew McCarthy is an accomplished astrophotographer from Arizona who has gained recognition for his captivating images of celestial objects. Growing up in Sacramento, Andrew developed an interest in astronomy during his childhood, sparked by his father’s telescope. He later pursued computer science and mathematics in college and worked in the tech industry before rediscovering his love for astronomy. His innovative techniques in astrophotography, coupled with his computer science background, have helped him to develop a unique style that emphasizes intricate details and textures in his work. His striking images of the moon, in particular, have been praised for their unprecedented clarity and depth, revealing hidden features. Andrew’s work has been published in various magazines, including National Geographic, The New York Times, and Wired. He has also received recognition for his contributions to astrophotography, such as the Astronomy Photographer of the Year award from the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Alongside his photography, Andrew is a passionate advocate for science education and outreach, aiming to make Earth-based space exploration more accessible to inspire the next generation of enthusiasts to explore the cosmos.

Bob Bryan is one of the world’s most successful doubles tennis players. Playing with his twin brother Mike, the Bryans won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, 39 Masters 1000 titles, and 119 ATP Tour titles. Bob also won seven Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles, is a Davis Cup champion, and was the number one ranked doubles player in the world for 439 weeks. The Bryans were the top doubles team on the ATP Tour for 10 seasons and, in 2012, they clinched the career Golden Slam, winning all four Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal during a 12-month run. Bob now lives in Miami with his wife Michelle and their three children and is the captain of the United States Davis Cup Team.

Recently named Latin America’s Best Female Chef by the World’s 50 Best, Manu Buffara is the Executive Chef and Owner of Manu located in Curitiba, Brazil. Paving the way for gastronomy in Brazil and putting the city of Curitiba on the world gastronomic map, the menu has received critical acclaim and earned the restaurant the number 46 spot on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Inspired by her family and background, Manu learned the value of land and animals growing up in the countryside and incorporates this in her everyday technique. At Manu, she uses organic ingredients from carefully selected suppliers and her own garden. Manu’s devotion to sustainability and quality ingredients stems from her commitment to Curitiba, working with local communities to transform abandoned sites into urban gardens and educating locals on how to care for the gardens and feed themselves. Throughout 2023, Chef Manu is running a 12-month pop-up at Fresh in the Garden at Soneva Fushi. Inspired by the ecological connection between land, sea, minerals, roots, fruits and animals, and the transformational power of food, the exclusive pop-up seats just 35 guests per sitting and offers an intimate dining experience with one of Brazil’s most exciting culinary talents and her team.

Mike Bryan is an Olympic Gold Medal Tennis Doubles Champion. He holds the record for most Grand Slam Men’s Doubles Championships (18), most ATP Tour Tiltes (124), and most weeks ranked number 1 in the world (506). He is also a Davis Cup Champion and two time NCAA Champion at Stanford.

Former chef of Le Meurin, Mathieu Boutroy spent more than 12 years under two-Michelin-starred chef  Marc Meurin before opening Le Restaurant du Cerisier in Lille, France. Located in the heart of the old city, on the first floor of a contemporary building, the restaurant won its first Michelin star after only fifteen months of opening. Known for crafting perfectly executed dishes, including subtle sauces and jus, Mathieu defines his cuisine as coherent with frank tastes; readable and understandable by all from the first glance and the first bite; with only three different flavours per plate. each finished with a touch of acidity and power.

Dr James O’Donoghue is a planetary astronomer at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and prior to this he worked at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. His research involves the astronomy of Giant Planets Jupiter, Saturn and exoplanets. His recent astronomical discoveries have made global news: Saturn’s rings aren’t going to last forever — they are falling into the upper atmosphere, and Jupiter’s aurora heats the entire planet. James has a passion for educating people about the wonders of space: he creates space science-themed animations which are used in schools, planetariums, universities and museums globally. These videos have over 200 million views across Twitter, Youtube and other platforms, gaining him nearly 200,000 followers on the Twitter account “@physicsJ”. During his visit, James will be hosting after-dinner stargazing sessions, along with talks about astronomy throughout the day.