Sacked Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons now ‘Seoul searching in South Korea’ as he travels world
Flamboyant former Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons appears still to be smarting over his sacking in 2016 — ranting in Osaka about the “sh*thole” his home town has become and the “basket case” Victorian government — as he travels the world in high style.
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The former ‘mohawk mayor’ of the City of Greater Geelong – who was sacked in April 2016 by the state government amid allegations of bullying – has been video blogging his travels around Asia, still referring to himself as “Mr Paparazzi”, from his time as a famous celebrity photographer in London many years’ ago.
Darryn Lyons acquired a new brightly coloured hair-do in Tokyo – and clearly still smarting from the humiliation of his high-profile dismissal, despite his protestations to the contrary – has ranted in Japan about “the useless city council” in Geelong, which he claims has “ripped out” his tree-lighting work and returned his home town to an “absolute shithole”.
Wearing a hot pink shirt and dark sunglasses at night as he cruised the Osaka streets, the ex Big Brother contestant with the famous fake abs also slammed the “basket case” of Victoria under current Premier Jacinta Allan and former premier Dan Andrews, and declared the state government was “hopeless … on both sides”.
In an apparent swipe at his sacking Mr Lyons said “if it had been anywhere else in Australia we probably wouldn’t have had the turmoil that we did”, and that there was a lot to be learnt from Asia “about the way people are treated by governments”.
In other recent videos taken at his luxe Geelong waterfront home, between overseas jaunts, the flamboyant Mr Lyons flaunts the lavish interior of the house and lit-up garden, as well as flashing his fleet of expensive cars.
A limp Geelong council mayoral flag still hangs from a post at the front of his home – a faded legacy of the time he went by the moniker “Mr Mayor”.
In yet other recent videos Mr Lyons promotes a new line of paparARTzzi T-shirts and hoodies from a collection called STILL ALIVE.
The fashion venture follows the collapse of Big Australia, a company controlled by Mr Lyons, which was put into liquidation in April 2023 by the former paparazzo and his business partner Mario Gregorio in April 2023, and the apparent split from his glamorous girlfriend, Elissa Friday.
According to a report signed by Mr Lyons and filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Big Australia owed $34,000 to employees, $356,400 to the ATO and more than $500,000 to trade creditors when he and Mr Gregorio pulled the plug on the company.
In September 2024 Mr Lyons auctioned off more that 200 pieces from his extensive, valuable private art and collectables range, as he announced his plans to become a “world traveller”.
Then in November 2024 his Geelong nightclub Home House closed after operating for 22 years. Declining attendance post Covid was cited as among the reasons for its closure.
On June 24 this year, Mr Lyons was headed for South Korea.
“Seoul searching in South Korea,” he posted on Facebook.
“New city. New chaos. New stories for the lens. Assignment: Get the shot, cause the stir, own the moment.”
After arriving in Seoul he posted that he’d been “hanbok’d, BBQ’d, K-popped and temple-hopped, all while shooting the next fire episode of Mr Paparazzi’s World Tour.”
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Originally published as Sacked Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons now ‘Seoul searching in South Korea’ as he travels world
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