To some he is the flamboyant former mayor of Geelong, to others the pink-haired paparazzo with a penchant for belly implants.
But despite losing his mayoral seat in the Australian city eight years ago, Darryn Lyons proved in a series of recent Instagram posts that old habits die hard.
The entrepreneur rose to fame in the UK after showing off a set of perfectly sculpted, and completely fake, abs during his 2011 appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.
And Lyons, 58, confirmed the silicone six-pack was still there and fine when he took off his shirt for an Instagram video in July.
Instead of regular visits to the gym, Lyons, a former professional celebrity photographer, underwent fat removal surgery in 2009 to get his washboard abs.
Darryn Lyons confirmed his infamous fake abs are still there and correct when he posted on Instagram in July (right), 13 years after his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother (left)
Instead of regular visits to the gym, Lyons, a former professional celebrity photographer, underwent fat removal surgery in 2009 to achieve his washboard six-pack
The then pink-haired housemate confided in his co-star Paddy Doherty and bared his torso in the bedroom to reveal the transformation.
Lyons says of the treatment: ‘I had my body contoured.
‘I had to really get fit and lose a fair bit of weight. It takes away all the fat around it and makes your natural abs there.
‘It’s basically the male version of breast augmentation.’
Paddy was impressed and called Lyons’ new look ‘the bees knees’. Photographer Lyons added: ‘I’m over the moon with it.’
Lyons previously admitted that the cosmetic surgery requires him to make regular body adjustments.
“My problem is all that fat pushes my abs out,” he told Ny Breaking Australia in 2018.
‘I look more like a Ninja Turtle these days than a muscular, Spartan specimen.’
“It’s basically the male version of breast augmentation,” he said during his appearance on the celebrity program Big Brother in 2011
Lyons confirmed the silicone six-pack was still present and correct when he took off his shirt for an Instagram video in July
After his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, Lyons’ photo agency went bust after 20 years of selling paparazzi photos to some of the world’s biggest magazines and newspapers, leaving Lyons without a job again.
So he turned his attention to politics, a world away from the career he embarked on at the age of 22 when he moved to London to begin his long career as a photographer, Bay 93.9 reports.
Returning to his birthplace of Geelong, where his Baptist parents still lived and he attended Geelong East Technical School, Lyons ran for mayor and won in 2013.
The Victorian government later sacked the former photographer and Greater Geelong City Council after a commission of inquiry found conflict within the council.
In 2011, the then pink-haired Lyons confided in his co-star Paddy Doherty and bared his torso in the bedroom to reveal the transformation