Darryn Lyons Biography
Darryn Lyons is an Australian media personality, entrepreneur, and politician who rose to popularity as a paparazzo in Australia and the United Kingdom. From 2013 to 2016, he served as Mayor of Geelong.
How old is Darryn Lyons? – Age
He is 57 years old as of 19 August 2022. He was born in 1965 in Geelong, Australia.
Darryn Lyons Family – Education
He grew up as the youngest of three children in the Herne Hill area of Leopold. His father, an architect and choirmaster at Aberdeen Street Baptist Church, created the family’s “cathedral-like” home. Lyons’ interest in photography began at a young age, and he attended Geelong East Technical School, where he was a regular dux.
Darryn Lyons Wife
Lyons lives in Geelong’s Western Beach neighborhood. Elissa Friday, a former model and student who now portrays herself as single on her Instagram account, was his fiancée. He was formerly married to Melanie Whitehead, who divorced him in 2000.
Darryn Lyons Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of $20 million.
Darryn Lyons Big Brother
He also became a housemate on Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother UK, entering the house in August 2011. Lyons presented his cosmetic “six-pack” a few days after joining the Big Brother house, which drew a lot of media attention for having a “sculpted six pack seemingly implanted atop his generous gut.” He came in sixth position.
Darryn Lyons ABS- Six Pack
Lyons, who served as mayor of Geelong, south-west of Melbourne, underwent fat removal surgery in 2009 to obtain a washboard six-pack. However, the professional celebrity photographer, who rose to prominence after revealing his abdomen on Celebrity Big Brother in 2011, claims that his 92-kilogram frame requires some fine-tuning. He claimed that Christmas had given him ‘a few inches,’ and that decreasing weight would be part of his New Year’s resolution.
Darryn Lyons Paparazzi
Lyons created Big Pictures in 1993, which provided paparazzi-style photos to news organizations. His wife Melanie Lyons and Kevin Anstey ran Big Pictures, while Lyons worked as a photographer for the Daily Mail newspaper. Darryn Lyons left the Daily Mail in 1996 to work full-time at Big Pictures alongside Melanie Lyons.
From 2007 until 2013, Big Pictures also ran a Mr Paparazzi website and YouTube channel that featured celebrity news, images, and videos. After experiencing financial difficulties, Big Pictures was placed into administration in 2012, with all employees laid off. Lyons later founded Mr Paparazzi Celebrity Deals and became a shareholder in another company named BPGG Limited, which facilitated the purchase of Big Pictures’ assets for £164,000.
Darryn Lyons Princess Diana
Big Pictures acquired images of Princess Diana’s dying moments from its Paris representative Laurent Sola on the night of her death in a vehicle crash in 1997. Lyons still owns these unpublished images and has vowed that he will never sell them. Lyons testified at Diana’s death inquest in 2007.
Darryn Lyons Geelong
Lyons declared his candidacy for mayor of the City of Greater Geelong in 2013. Despite this, he ran a “presidential-style mayoral campaign” for the office, including having a jet tow a banner across the city’s skyline. Lyons was declared elected following the distribution of preferences on November 25, 2013; Lyons received about 30% of the first preference votes, more than doubling the primary votes of the second-placed candidate. Lyons was sworn in on November 26, 2013.
Lyons’ priority as mayor has been on lobbying for the city, producing publicity, and raising the city’s profile in order to attract tourism and investment. Lyons has lobbied for the construction of a cruise ship pier on the Geelong waterfront in order to increase the city’s economy through tourism. The pier would also house a convention center and a cultural center.
Lyons’ other measures include enhancing the city center by making street parking free on weekends and putting trees in the streets. Lyons and the rest of the Greater Geelong City Council were fired on April 16, 2016, following a Commission of Inquiry that found the council was riven with conflict, unable to manage Geelong’s economic challenges, had dysfunctional leadership, and had a bullying culture. Administrators were appointed by the government to oversee the council until elections were held on October 27, 2017. Lyons ran unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate in the 2018 Victorian state election.