Darryn Lyons (born 19 August 1965) is an Australian
media personality
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
,
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
, who rose to prominence in Australia and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
as a
paparazzo
Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...
. He held the position of
Mayor of Geelong
This is a list of the mayors of the City of Greater Geelong, a local government area, and the second largest city in Victoria, Australia. Before amalgamation in 1993 the central area of Geelong was covered by the City of Geelong, with the surro ...
from 2013 to 2016.
Early life
Born in
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Australia on 19 August 1965, Lyons grew up the youngest of three children in the suburb of
Herne Hill
Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the boroughs ...
, and later
Leopold
Leopold may refer to:
People
* Leopold (given name)
* Leopold (surname)
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons''
* Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...
. His father was an architect and the choirmaster of the Aberdeen Street Baptist Church, and designed the family's "cathedral-like" house. Lyons's passion for photography started at a young age, and he attended Geelong East Technical School, where he was regularly
dux
''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...
of school.
Photography career
After completing his schooling, Lyons began work as a professional photographer at the ''
Geelong News
The ''Geelong News'' is a free weekly paper delivered to houses in the Geelong region in Victoria, Australia. It is published on Wednesdays with a circulation of over 70,000 copies. The focus of most
stories are local community issues and sp ...
'' and ''
Geelong Advertiser
The ''Geelong Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper circulating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Bellarine Peninsula, and surrounding areas. First published on 21 November 1840, the ''Geelong Advertiser'' is the oldest newspaper title in Victor ...
''. At the age of 22, he moved to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where he gained a job at the ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...
'' after a chance meeting with
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
. Two years later, he left to take a position with the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'', for whom he provided coverage of the
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
.
In 1993, Lyons founded the picture company Big Pictures, which supplied paparazzi-style photography for news organisations. Big Pictures was run by his wife Melanie Lyons and Kevin Anstey, while Lyons worked as a photographer for the ''Daily Mail'' newspaper. During 1996, Darryn Lyons left the ''Daily Mail'' to work full-time at Big Pictures alongside Melanie Lyons.
He gained widespread media attention when his company sold a photograph to the ''News of the World'', which was used to support a claim that
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
star
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
was having an affair with his
personal assistant
A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...
Rebecca Loos
Rebecca Loos (born 19 June 1977) is a Dutch former personal assistant, glamour model, and media personality. Loos first came to public attention following her claims that she had conducted an affair with the married footballer David Beckham while ...
.
On the night of the fatal
car crash involving
Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
in 1997, Big Pictures received photographs from its Paris agent Laurent Sola of Diana's final moments. Lyons still own these photos which have never been published, and has stated that he never would sell them. Lyons gave evidence at the
2007 inquest into Diana's death.
The company often faced legal action relating to invasion of privacy and harassment, from celebrities including
Sienna Miller
Sienna Rosie Diana Miller (born December 28, 1981) is an American-British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian ''Vogue'' and for the 2003 Pirelli cal ...
,
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings publi ...
,
JK Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
,
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...
and
Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English actress and model.
As an actress, her best-known film roles have been as Vanessa Kensington in '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997) and as the Devil in '' Bedazzled'' (2 ...
.
Big Pictures also ran a ''Mr Paparazzi'' website and YouTube channel from 2007 to 2013, featuring celebrity news, photos and videos
In 2012, Big Pictures was placed into administration after facing financial difficulties, with all staff members of the company being made redundant. Lyons subsequently established the Mr Paparazzi Celebrity Deals company and became a shareholder of another firm called BPGG Limited, facilitating the purchase of Big Pictures' assets for £164,000. Big Pictures went into liquidation in 2013, owing more than £82,000 to photographers and picture agencies.
In 2013, Lyons announced plans to launch an online celebrity stock photographic agency called Celebstock, however these plans did not eventuate.
Media personality
Lyons has frequently appeared on radio and television programmes, including the
Sky News
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
''
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Terminology
Al ...
'' programme, ''
LK Today
The following details are for the programmes that GMTV (Good Morning Television) broadcast on ITV.
GMTV is the former breakfast television franchise for the UK's ITV network. It began broadcasting on Friday 1 January 1993 and finished on Friday ...
'', Australian radio shows ''
Kyle and Jackie O Show
''The Kyle and Jackie O Show'' is an Australian breakfast radio show hosted by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O on KIIS 106.5 in Sydney. The show is syndicated in the late drive slot on the KIIS Network following ''Will & Woody'' across Australia ...
'' and ''Hughsey and Kate'', and a role as a weekly commentator on
ITV1's Alan Titchmarsh Show
''The Alan Titchmarsh Show'' is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 until 14 November 2014 and aired on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" them ...
. Lyons has also written for the ''Geelong Advertiser'' newspaper and ''
NW'' magazine.
He was one of the five
venture capitalist
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which hav ...
s on the 2005 Australian version of the
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
programme ''
Dragons' Den
''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is k ...
'', which ended after one season after poor ratings.
In 2007, Lyons appeared on the British reality television shows ''
Tycoon
A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...
'', and ''
Deadline
Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to:
* Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain
* ''Deadline'' (magazine), a Britis ...
'', as a picture editor and camera instructor. Lyons also appeared on the British panel show ''
Through the Keyhole
''Through the Keyhole'' is a British comedy panel game show created by the TV producer Kevin Sim and originally presented by Sir David Frost in the studio and Loyd Grossman on location. The location presenter goes around celebrities' houses and ...
''.
In 2011, he appeared in the British ''
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'' television show, representing Australia in a double-decker car race in the theme of
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...
.
He also became a housemate in the UK version of ''
Celebrity Big Brother
''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...
'' on
Channel 5, entering the house in August 2011. Within a few days of entering the Big Brother house, Lyons unveiled his cosmetic "six-pack", which caused a high volume of media coverage for being a "sculpted six pack seemingly implanted atop his generous gut". He finished in sixth place.
In 2012, Lyons was a contestant in the Australian show ''
Excess Baggage''. The show was transferred to digital channel
GO! shortly after its premiere due to poor ratings. Following the show's completion, it was deemed a failure, with numerous people identifying the contestants as the reason for the lack of success.
Mayor of Geelong
In 2013, Lyons announced his candidacy for the
City of Greater Geelong
The City of Greater Geelong is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and, had a population of 271,057 as of the 2021 Australian census. ...
2013 mayoral election. At the start of the election he was quoted as saying "As I have learnt from my time in the UK every election needs a comedy candidate and also as I've seen from Tony Abbott's example the electorate respects a man with great abs". Despite this he then campaigned heavily for the position with a "presidential-style mayoral campaign", including having a plane tow a banner across the sky in the city.
He was declared elected after the distribution of preferences on 25 November 2013; Lyons garnered almost 30 per cent of the first preference votes, more than double the primary votes than the second-placed candidate.
Lyons was sworn into office on 26 November 2013.
As mayor, Lyons has focussed on lobbying for the city, creating publicity and lifting the city's profile in order to attract tourism and investment.
Lyons has advocated for building a cruise ship pier on the
Geelong waterfront
The Geelong Waterfront is a tourist and recreation area on the north facing shores of Corio Bay in Geelong, Victoria, Geelong, Australia. The area was once part of the Port of Geelong, falling into disuse before being redeveloped during the 1 ...
in order to boost the city's economy with tourism. The pier would also incorporate a convention centre and cultural centre.
Other initiatives introduced by Lyons include improving the
city centre
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
by making street parking free on weekends and planting plants in the streets.
On 16 April 2016, the
Victorian Government
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...
dismissed Lyons along with the rest of the
Greater Geelong City Council, following a Commission of Inquiry which found that the council was riven with conflict, unable to manage Geelong's economic challenges, had dysfunctional leadership and had a culture of bullying. The government appointed administrators to run the council until council elections were held on 27 October 2017.
Lyons ran as an
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
candidate in the
2018 Victorian state election
Eighteen or 18 may refer to:
* 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19
* one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
Film, television and entertainment
* ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...
but was unsuccessful.
Personal life
Lyons resides in the Western Beach area of Geelong. His fiancée was Elissa Friday, a former model and a student who now lists herself as single on her Instagram account. He was formerly married to Melanie Whitehead, who left him in 2000. Lyons is a personal friend of former Melbourne mayor
Robert Doyle
Robert Keith Bennett Doyle (born 20 May 1953) is an Australian politician who was the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008 until he resigned on 4 February 2018 amidst allegations of sexual harassment. He was previously M ...
, who supported Lyons during his 2013 electoral campaign.
Lyons has acknowledged drug abuse, binge drinking and heavy gambling during his life abroad.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Darryn
1965 births
Living people
Australian businesspeople
Australian expatriates in England
Australian photographers
Mayors of Geelong