Bob Quinn, star of the reality TV show Struggle Street, who made international headlines with his pregnant, bong-smoking girlfriend Billie Jo Wilkie, has died at the age of 56.
The couple, whose drug use was featured in the controversial SBS documentary about Western Sydney, both later admitted they were “crushed on the ice” during filming.
Quinn spent time in the hospital and faced serious family problems after appearing on the series.
But he has been remembered by the family for a lifetime that ‘it was a tapestry of rich experiences, full of ups and downs’.
He was the expectant father of Wilkie’s baby when she was filmed in the series’ most controversial scene, just before she was about to give birth.
But despite Wilkie being heavily pregnant and sitting on the toilet with her mother Carlene, she was seen smoking cannabis from the bong.
The first series of Struggle Street was filmed over six months in Mount Druitt in 2014 and sent shockwaves across the country when it first aired in May 2015.
Wilkie, then 21, was nearly eight months pregnant with Quinn’s child when cameras captured her chatting with her mother and casually smoking a joint.
Bob Quinn and Billie Jo Wilkie’s drug use was filmed on Struggle Street, causing such controversy that they were called ‘f***ing bogans’ in the street.
The confronting scene of heavily pregnant Billie Jo smoking a bong with her mother in the toilet was met with fierce criticism from people online who called her ‘disgusting’
Bob Quinn’s son posted this photo of his father who died at age 56 after a long battle with drug addiction
In the confrontational scenes, people vented their anger on X and later on Twitter, describing the couple as ‘repulsive and disgusting’.
Wilkie’s relationship with Quinn was a major theme of the documentary, as they both struggled with drug addictions and tried to keep their relationship intact.
Quinn told the documentary’s makers that he had been “a functioning heroin addict for 30 years, but he recently turned to ice.”
The couple later admitted to Daily Mail Australia that they were both under the influence of alcohol during filming and had purchased methamphetamines using money they received through social services when SBS paid for their food and phones.
“Ice cream is really bad,” Quinn told the Mail in 2016. “That time [filmed on Struggle Street] When I didn’t come to the door, I was quite upset that day.’
“You were absolutely shattered,” Wilkie added. “SBS gave us a card to put Maccas on and our phones and everything, yeah, we bought ice cream.
‘It was disgusting. We were given money and taken to do drug deals. They [SBS] took us to board. It was s***.’
Quinn admitted: ‘I’ve been drugged into oblivion. It’s a horrible life on ice. It’s just miserable.
‘I still struggle with it every day and there are still those assholes who come along and say, ‘Can we get some of those and we’ll give you some for free, those assholes.’
Bob Quinn’s son’s touching tribute to his father who has died aged 56 (left) and Quinn stands outside Nine’s ACA (right) to hit back at Struggle Street with Billie Jo saying she was unaware she was being filmed smoking a bong while pregnant
Bob Quinn and Billie Jo Wilkie in 2016 after she was released from prison and both stopped taking ice cream, with Bob revealing he ‘fell into oblivion on drugs’
Following the success of the series, SBS made two more series of Struggle Street, set in Queensland and Victoria, following people who were largely unemployed, dependent on welfare and living hard lives.
Wilkie later ended up in prison in 2015 for traffic violations. She was caught driving without a license four times, twice in one day. While behind bars, she was bullied by fellow inmates.
The pressures of their fame and drug addictions drove the couple apart, but Quinn stopped eating Ice while Wilkie was in prison and they briefly reunited before Wilkie moved on to other partners.
In 2018, she was jailed again on multiple charges relating to a shoplifting incident with another male friend, who was not Quinn, in Westfield Mt Druitt
Quinn has also had his own troubles with the law, pleading guilty in 2018 to five charges of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
The couple have managed to stay out of the public eye for the past four years and Wilkie is believed to have moved to Queensland.
Quinn passed away on June 26 of this year and a month later his adult son Cameran Titheradge posted the news on Facebook.
“It is with a heavy heart and deep sorrow that I share the passing of my father, one of my closest friends in life,” he said.
‘He lived within his means to the fullest and enjoyed every moment.
‘Because of him I carry my proud Scottish heritage with me, and I would never have chosen any other father to travel this earth with.
‘His presence will be sorely missed and it will take a long time before we can come to terms with the void his absence leaves.
“I love you, Dad. Your memory will forever light my path.”
Bob Quinn (above in a photo posted to Facebook in 2023) revealed his decades-long drug addiction during Struggle Street, but managed to get himself off the ice the year after the show
The real struggle street: the house in Lethbridge Park where Billie Jo’s mother Carlene lived during the filming of the series in which mother and daughter appear in controversial scenes
In response to Quinn’s passing, many posted their condolences. One family member said: ‘Rest in paradise, unk’.
SBS rejected the couple’s claims that they were encouraged to use drugs during filming and denied that the film was “poverty porn”.
According to the program, their existence was intended to contrast with the image of wealth and glamour of Sydney, Australia’s ‘Emerald City’.
According to the documentary’s production company, KEO Films, the film “features the stories of people living on the fringes of Sydney, in one of our most socially deprived communities, who face the enormous challenges… of being born into a disadvantaged generation.
‘Rather than an exercise in voyeurism … this expanded insight into the lives of our subjects will – we hope – not only change public perception but also spark debate about the direction of government policy.’