Aussie Hollywood comedy icon Yahoo Serious is just days away from being evicted from an elderly dementia patient’s home where he’s been allegedly squatting for months.
Serious is said to be living illegally with his Jack Russell terrier in the multi-million dollar home of Charles Phillip Porter, who is in his 90s and now in a nursing home.
The Young Epstein star was spotted at the plush Palm Beach home, in Sydney’s wealthy northern beaches, on Tuesday but faces being kicked out within weeks.
He has been ordered to exit the multi-storey house on Barrenjoey Road by August 4 but showed no sign of being willing to leave when Daily Mail Australia spoke to him.
He denied squatting in the home, despite a tribunal hearing giving him the deadline to vacate, and insisted: ‘You’re getting it all wrong.’
But Serious declined to answer further questions about his future plans, and if he would move out or where he would go.
Mr Porter’s lifelong friend Margie Charlton this week told Daily Mail Australia the former star has cost the homeowner $70,000 in nursing home fees because of his refusal to move out.
She has had Mr Porter’s power of attorney for the last 14 years and said she now has to sell the home to pay for the mounting nursing home bill.
Yahoo Serious, with his Jack Russell dog, Jingle, seen outside Mr Porter’s Palm Beach home
Ms Charlton desperately needs to sell Mr Porter’s mansion to pay for his nursing home fees
‘I owe $70,000 in nursing home fees because I can’t sell the f***ing house because he won’t move out,’ Ms Charlton said.
The amount grows at an alarming rate of around $6,500 per month, she said.
In March, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard Serious used to live in the granny flat beneath the ramshackle property, which stands among the mansions overlooking picturesque Pittwater.
The tribunal was told the owner had allowed Serious to move into the granny flat, as the former screen star was living rough in his ageing BMW sedan, but he moved into the main house when Mr Porter was put into care.
On April 24, the tribunal initially gave Mr Serious six weeks to move out, Ms Charlton told Daily Mail Australia.
‘But his lawyer said he needed 12 weeks because he’s a sick man with lymphoma,’ she said.
Ms Charlton alleges that despite appearing fragile at the tribunal hearing, Serious was seen playing Anzac Day Two-Up at Newport Bowling Club the following day.
‘It was actually me who was feeling sick from it all,’ she said.
Yahoo Serious (pictured) appeared to be having trouble with his rundown silver BMW’s radiator when he was seen outside the Palm Beach home
He drove the vehicle to a nearby mechanic where he declined to answer further questions
Serious – and his wild haircut at the time – became suddenly famous when he starred in 1988’s Young Einstein movie and then 1993’s Reckless Kelly.
But he later fell on hard times and was taken in by Mr Porter and Ms Charlton several years ago. He was recently seen looking very gaunt, amid concerns for his health.
Serious told the tribunal he should be allowed to remain in the home because he was Mr Porter’s carer, which Ms Charlton strongly disputes.
‘Phillip – we call him Phillip, not Charles, is a family friend, he has been for years and years,’ she said.
‘He’s never been married, never had children, so he made me power of attorney and trustee.
‘He was getting old and getting dementia, and was having trouble looking after himself, so I was doing all his cooking.
‘It wasn’t like Yahoo was his carer. He wasn’t bathing him or dressing him. I was washing his clothes, we had a cleaner coming in.
‘He was just there to listen out for him, really.’
He spoke to Daily Mail Australia in March looking very gaunt, amid concerns for his health
Northern Beaches local Margie Charlton is Mr Porter’s longtime friend and power of attorney
Ms Charlton said Serious moved in after she and Mr Porter, out for a morning swim in Palm Beach, found the fallen star living out of his car.
‘We didn’t want to put Phillip in a nursing home, he wasn’t ready yet, and he had a flat underneath his house,’ she added.
‘So I said to Yahoo, “Look, you’re obviously living out of your car. We’ve got a place for you to stay if you would just keep an eye on Phillip”.
‘It was just somebody to make sure he was OK.
‘The deal was he could stay there, but when I said to move out, he had to move out so we could sell the place… and when the time came, he just wouldn’t.’
It’s alleged Serious then moved from the granny flat to the upstairs home when Mr Porter went into his nursing home and was using Mr Porter’s furniture.
‘We gave him an eviction notice and he just threw it over his shoulder,’ she said.
‘We told him we need to sell the property to pay the fees, and that’s when he turned around and said, “Nah, sorry, not happening”.
Yahoo Serious – and his wild haircut at the time – became suddenly famous when he starred in 1988’s Young Einstein movie and then 1993’s Reckless Kelly
‘It’s just a nightmare.’
In her application filed to NCAT, Ms Charlton said Mr Porter’s ongoing care is at risk if the property is unable to be sold.
‘Due to his diagnosis of dementia, Mr Porter has been placed in a nursing home, and I hold power of attorney for his affairs,’ she wrote.
‘The Public Trustee has instructed me to sell the property in order to fund Mr Porter’s ongoing care.
‘Failure to do so will result in his removal from his current care facility.’
Serious denied he was squatting in the home when he spoke to Daily Mail Australia in March.
‘I don’t do things that are illegal and I never have,’ he said. ‘The [professional] work I have done has proved that.
‘When you have done something significant in your life then you become an easy target to sell papers.’
At the time, Serious – born Greg Pead – claimed he was not aware of any eviction or impending tribunal.
Yahoo Serious – born Greg Pead – claimed in March that he was not aware of any eviction or impeding tribunal
‘I am not aware of anything, but the truth always comes out,’ he added. ‘I’m just a human who lives with the legacy of being defamed.’
As well as a Keep Out warning sign in the front door window, the dilapidated cottage also has a large chest blocking the entrance of the home.
Serious insisted: ‘There are a lot of problems with that house.’
After a few unsuccessful attempts to restart his career, he was previously evicted from an Avalon rental property in 2020 for failing to pay his rent.
Another NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing at the time ordered him to pay his landlords $15,000 and vacate the property.
His production company, Serious Productions Pty Ltd, had begun renting the property in March 2017 for $1,350 per week.
