Police called to Tones and I’s Byron Bay home over squatters

Dance Monkey singer Tones And I is speaking out, after checking in on one of her Byron Bay houses to find something truly shocking.

Australian singer Tones and I returned to one of her properties this week to find that squatters had taken it over, documenting their destruction on social media.

The Dance Monkey singer, who has become something of a mini property mogul with purchases of several multi million-dollar homes around Australia in recent years, visited one of the homes she owns in Byron Bay this week to find that squatters had moved in.

In footage shared to her Instagram account, Tones could be seen chatting with police outside her home, alongside a pile of rubbish from the squatters including “stolen TVs” and “needles and drug s**t”.

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Tones And I documents her discovery.

A marijuana plant found in the home.

“POLICE HAVE BEEN CALLED! Take your s**t and go,” a sign outside the house reads.

Speaking to Fox FM’s Fifi, Fev & Nick this morning, Tones – real name Toni Watson – said she visited the house to prepare it for some friends staying.

“We were there only a week ago – and in that time we’ve had some sort of squatters who have completely demolished it,” she told the hosts.

She said that builders across the road had told her the squatters “weren’t in a good way”.

“They’re pretty hectic. The police came round … apparently they hit a few robberies up in Byron, so we’ve got people watching the house today to see if they come back,” she said.

Tones and I: ‘The least they could do is clean up after themselves.’ Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“The least they could do is clean up after themselves and maybe have a shower … the couches are all dirty. At least shower in the house if you’re going to use it,” she said. “I don’t know how to wash a mattress, but I’m going to figure it out today.”

She also said she found “needles, crack pipes and weed plants” in the home, and that police knew the identity of the squatters.

The home was the most recent addition to Tones’ ever-growing property portfolio, having been purchased in August of this year.

Before that, she bought another property on the other side of Byron Bay for $3.3 million in early 2021, and she also owns two mansions in Victoria’s exclusive beachside suburb of Mount Eliza. She bought the first for $5.1m in 2020 and the second the following year for $7.08m.

She started her career as a Byron Bay busker – now she owns multiple homes in the resort town. Picture: Richard Dobson

She’s also reported to have paid $800,000 for a home in Frankston, Victoria, in 2020 – believed to have been purchased for a friend or family member.

Amid all those big purchases, a recent showing on the AFR’s Young Rich List revealed just how well the Aussie star has done from her slew of hit singles (among them breakthrough hit Dance Monkey, a massive worldwide number one): According to the outlet, Tones is now worth a cool $35m.

Tones’ squatter run-in comes as the Byron Bay region experiences a homelessness crisis, with rising rents and a lack of available properties forcing more locals onto the streets.