IN A media world where celebrities in rehab are seemingly as newsworthy as war in Iraq, last weekend's tale of a straight-talking, semi-naked, bleached-blond, unrepentant teenage party animal blamed for wreaking havoc on suburban Melbourne was destined to be a "grower".
And grow it did. By last night reports of 16-year-old Corey Worthington and the out-of-control party he threw that drew 500 wild youths to Narre Warren while his parents holidayed on the Gold Coast had gone global.
The story was among the most-read on the BBC's news website last night. It was more popular than a report on the Taliban attacking a Kabul hotel.
Corey's farcical interview with Channel Nine's A Current Affair on Monday, during which he comprehensively steam-rolled host Leila McKinnon (wife of Channel Nine chief David Gyngell), was uploaded to the YouTube website yesterday afternoon, further expanding his notoriety.
Within minutes of going online, McKinnon's tabloid TV tut-tutting had backfired, transforming Corey, who was interviewed shirtless with his pierced nipple on show, from naughty schoolboy to international hero.
The boy's neighbours and Victorian Police would not have been amused, and nor would his mother and stepfather, Jo and Steve Delaney, who were on the Channel Seven show Today Tonight expressing their shame over his antics and their concern over a potential $20,000 fine.
Pursed-lipped McKinnon, clearly frustrated when Corey refused her repeated requests to remove his huge sunglasses and offer an apology on the show, went in for the kill, adopting a school ma'am tone to suggest the boy: "Go away and take a good long hard look at yourself."
But before she could cut the link, the boy shot back: "I have, everyone has and they love it."
In a rare moment of restraint, celebrity agents contacted by the Herald yesterday said they would not be approaching the teenager with any lucrative contracts, despite his new found notoriety.
A spokeswoman from Harry M Miller's office, which already handles the dubious "talent" from the Big Brother reality TV series, said they were not interested in the teenager.
However, by last night rival agent Max Markson had changed his mind and admitted the boy's story was marketable, worth between $30,000 and $40,000 now it had gone international, but that he would only represent him "if they contact me".
AAP reported that the teenager was relaxing on the beach with girls yesterday, refusing to answer calls from his parents.
"I am not going home if they are going to go all crazy on me," he told the Nine Network. "It was pretty funny and I would do it all again. I have always had a bit of an attitude towards older [people] like my parents. That's just me. I would rather stay young and have fun and am not gonna change for anyone really."
Corey's parents returned to a home they say was disgusting.
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