Spanian, 35, spotted with 22yo girlfriend

A man who spent 12 years behind bars has been spotted landing in Sydney with his 22-year-old girlfriend just months after he called it quits with his wife.

A man who spent 12 years behind bars has been spotted landing in Sydney with his 22-year-old girlfriend just months after he called it quits with his wife.

Anthony Lees, better known online as Spanian, is a former career criminal who spent more than a decade behind bars, turned drill rapper and social media sensation following his release from prison in 2017.

Lees was spotted flying into Sydney on Sunday with his girlfriend, Ava Jean Walker, who is 22.

The 35-year-old dragged the couple’s suitcases outside the terminal, wearing a grey T-shirt, Nike shorts, and glasses, while Ms Walker wore a Nike tracksuit set with the hood pulled up.

Anthony Lees, better known online as Spanian, is a former career criminal who spent more than a decade behind bars. Picture: MEDIA MODE

Lees recently made headlines for debuting his relationship with Ms Walker just weeks after his marriage ended.

“I’m in The Daily Telegraph because I have a missus, I’m in the news because I have a beautiful new missus,” he said on social media in October.

“I get a girlfriend, I’m in the news, I break-up with my ex wife, I’m in the news … I love the fact that I’m extremely relevant …”

The content creator shares a five-month-old boy with his ex Angela McColl whom he married in August 2023.

The revelation comes a matter of weeks after McColl posted and then deleted a social media post teasing a “story time” about their marriage.

“Who the f**k did I marry and have a kid too will be out shortly, shout-out to spanian.official, (sic)” she wrote before later deleting the post.

He was spotted with his 22-year-old girlfriend. Picture: MEDIA MODE

He and his wife split up earlier this year. Picture: MEDIA MODE

A day later however, McColl backtracked and claimed she was wrong about her “receipts”.

“I was given wrong information … about a child being born at the same time as mine with the same person … I received fake ultrasounds, fake texts and fake photos. People crazy, everyone can unfollow me now,” she wrote, before making a joke about “crashing out”.

Spanian claims to have spent over 12 years in prison and has previously been in the media for sharing advice on how to avoid law enforcement.

His TikTok, YouTube and Instagram content typically centres around his series Into The Hood, in which he travels the world to visit notorious neighbourhoods to see what life is really like for the people who live there.

He also has a food series and has launched a food truck business, with a store set to open in Newtown.

The new kebab store location will replace the vacated shopfront on King St, formerly occupied by the only Mr Potato location in New South Wales.

The fast food business, co-founded in 2024 by Miss Universe finalist Jess David and basketball player Tyson Hoffman, shut up shop earlier this year.

The pair were spotted at Sydney airport. Picture: MEDIA-MODE.COM

The irony of Spanian’s choice of location was not lost on some people, especially following his horrifying comments made about the LGBTQIA+ community during Sydney’s hosting of World Pride in 2023.

“I’m f***ing sick of this f***ing perverted, putrid s***, like a bunch of deadset paedophiles hiding behind some f***ing gay pride,” he said in an Instagram rant, the Daily Mail reported at the time.

The YouTuber claimed that it was being “forced upon” adults and children and that everyone was “too scared” to say something.

“All of these child groomers hiding in plain sight, the times coming to an end, I’m not copping it no more. I’m f***ing over it. I’m calling it out,” he said.

“What else do we have to accept? … What else do you want to teach our children? F***ing sick of this. F*** ‘em.”

Newtown, as well as Darlinghurst’s Oxford Street, is one of Sydney’s biggest gay areas with rainbow flags lining the streets, LGBT bars and even NSW’s first council-funded LGBTQIA+ Pride Centre. It’s akin to New York’s Greenwich Village or San Francisco’s Castro.

Unsurprisingly, people were surprised at Spanian’s choice for his next kebab shop.

“Why the hell is the first store in Pride central,” one person said.

Another remarked: “Out of all places Newtown.”

“I haven’t been to NSW for a while but isn’t Newtown a full on hipster place,” another social media user asked.

Originally published as Spanian, 35, spotted with 22yo girlfriend