Darryn Lyons' flash life of sex, drugs & celebrities

KING of the paparazzi Darryn Lyons is zooming in on his own wild sex and drugs lifestyle, going for maximum exposure in an explosive autobiography.

And if you want a snapshot of his incredible life, picture this...

A giant bed heaves with a dozen naked women, all writhing around larger-than-life Aussie Darryn, who has spiky, rainbow-coloured hair and a very, very big smile on his face.

He's just woken from a cocaine and booze stupor to find the dirty dozen in his bed. He knows none of their names but they're all gorgeous and some of them are having sex with each other.

What's a man to do?

"I just had to dive in," says Darryn, 42, who became a minor celebrity himself after appearing on BBC documentary Paparazzi.

"I can remember it in slow motion, it was like being in my own movie-and I put in an Oscar-winning performance," he says with a typical lack of modesty.

"I thought I'd died and gone to heaven and with the way I was abusing myself then I nearly did."

For the orgy, he says in his book Mr Paparazzi, happened at an, erm, low point in his life.

"It sounds ridiculous to say this but that was a terrible time for me. I was going through a marriage break-up and I was in a difficult place and had to escape.

"I guess orgies like that were my way of self-harming."

Targets

Success, he says, had come at a price-a price a lot of men would be quite happy to pay.

Darryn arrived in Britain from Australia in 1988 with just £250. Within a day he'd landed a job at the News of the World and 14 years later launched the Big Pictures photo agency, which now has 800 snappers worldwide.

In the book he tells how at times he has been able to get a VERY close-up view of his celebrity targets.

Darryn was first to get his hands on the pictures of David Beckham cosying up to Rebecca Loos that almost cost the England star his marriage.

And later the agency boss found out EXACTLY why Beckham had been so tempted to stray.

"We were instrumental in breaking that amazing exclusive," says Darryn, "but funnily enough I didn't meet Rebecca until some time after.

"When I clapped eyes on her we clicked. We became close friends and one night she called to ask me to join her and some friends in a club in Notting Hill.

"We went for it big-time and ended up having a one-night stand. She's an amazing woman.

"She was completely and utterly wild in bed. I can see why Beckham fell for her in a big way.

"She told me I was the first man she'd slept with since Beckham. And she likes girls so that was an added turn-on."

Glamour model Jordan also went for maximum exposure when Darryn was photographing her in St Tropez in the Med.

"At one point on the first day Katie was completely naked and posing on the back of the boat.

"The water around us was full of teenage French boys, all desperately treading water, trying to keep themselves afloat and take shots with their disposable cameras. Hilarious. They couldn't believe those breasts."

After three bottles of champagne EACH and copious vodkas, Darryn and Jordan staggered off the boat. "That night we hit the dance floor and, in truth, we hit it pretty hard because we were so p***ed we couldn't stand.

"I ended up lying on top of her, my face between those magnificent pillows. 'Not a bad life,' I remember thinking. 'Giddy up! I've died and gone to heaven.'"

But one woman who couldn't tempt him was Abi Titmuss, who gave him the come-on during a holiday in Barbados. "One night Abi appeared naked in my room, claiming she didn't want to be alone.

"Our relationship was strictly business and I told her I would prefer to keep it that way. I wasn't into her like that-she was just a great mate. I did set her up with a few buddies though."

The success of Big Pictures has brought Darryn a fabulous party lifestyle, but when it cost him his marriage he turned to drink and drugs to dull his depression.

"I discovered the 'white stuff' (cocaine) on a mad weekend in New York," he said. "Back in London I kept going in the murky end of life. There were a***holes all around me and I was binge-drinking, hitting casinos-everything I could do to damage myself. I really hit the self-destruct button. I had huge wins at the casino and then lost it all.

"I remember one morning I sat watching Paul Lawrie win the Open". The £350,000 the golfer had won in prize money equalled the money Darryn had won and then lost over the past two days.

"I had people trying to blackmail me over addled conversations I couldn't even remember. One afternoon a friend came over to look at my computer and found me hiding behind a tree wearing my flak jacket and helmet, yelling for him to 'get down'."

If his personal life has been a bit of a disaster, his success as a snapper is legend. In the book, he reveals how paparazzi favourite Princess Diana tried to tip him off about Prince Charles's affair with Camilla.

He says: "I lived opposite the gates of Di's palace. You could say we were neighbours.

"One truly bizarre day I came out of my flat at 7am to be confronted by the princess leaping out of her car.

"'Why are you taking terrible pictures of me?' she demanded.

"I was flabbergasted, not least because I was on my way to doorstep her at the Harbour Club and now found myself being doorstepped.

"Talk about turning the tables. She then asked, 'Why are you chasing me and not my husband and THAT woman?'

"At that time though there were no convincing rumours of anything going on with Charles and Camilla.

"Had I pieced it together I would have made a fortune."

However he did hope to cash in when topless pics of Camilla landed on his desk-but he found them impossible to sell.

He says: "There was one particular set of images that, if I sold them, would probably have caused me to be executed in the Tower of London.

"Prince Charles and Camilla (who at that time were lovers) were on holiday in France in a private villa and one of the paps had got a shot of Camilla topless.

Fling

"I couldn't wait to see the images - some kind of sick fascination, I guess. The shots were of Camilla as she slipped into her swimsuit. They were actually quite sweet and romantic images of a couple very much enjoying their time together. I knew they were worth either loads of money or nothing."

It turned out to be nothing - as the News of the World politely informed him that no paper could run them.

But another sensational set of pictures confirmed for the first time a relationship between two of Hollywood's hottest celeb-rities: Brad Pitt-then married to Friends star Jennifer Aniston- and Angelina Jolie.

The pair had met on the set of Mr & Mrs Smith, but had always strenuously denied rumours of a fling.

Then Darryn's man got pictures of them together in a resort in Kenya. He sold them to a US magazine for a cool £250,000.

He says: "Jennifer Aniston is quoted as saying that the first she knew about the affair was a phone call she received from a friend in the UK who had seen the pictures.

"So Jen, I'm sorry because I do love you. I think Brad and Jen were probably the golden couple that no one wanted to see break up - apart from maybe Angelina and my bank manager."

But Darryn has no qualms about the cult of celebrity he has helped create. He says: "We satisfy people's craving for knowledge of the famous."

And now he's planning on joining them.

Mr Paparazzi by Darryn Lyons is published by John Blake Publishing on June 12 at £17.99. To pre-order call 020 7381 0666.