By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
SEVEN years after he threw THAT party, Corey Worthington says he has no regrets.
After all, the now 24-year-old is still getting publicity from throwing the out-of-control party at his parents’ Narre Warren home in 2008, where more than 500 people turned up after the invitation went viral on Myspace.
And the notorious party boy is set for a walk down the aisle in November – having finally been tamed by Melissa, who he met through friends and has known for five or six years.
On top of that, Corey currently features in a Father’s Day advertisement for the online gift retailer Red Balloon, where he buys his dad a biplane ride to atone for his past indiscretions – under the tagline ‘Clean the Slate’.
“Why would you regret it? I was 16, it was fun,” Corey told Star News.
“Any 16-year-old – I say it to anyone – if you’ve got cameras chucked in your face, people throwing money, getting to go overseas, getting to go around Australia, getting to meet famous people. Why not? Why wouldn’t you do it?
“Getting to go on Big Brother, for throwing one simple party, it just went ’boom’.
“I enjoyed it and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
And while Corey, who works full-time as a concreter and still lives locally, admitted he wished his parents hadn’t been dragged into the media spotlight along with him, it seems time really does heal all wounds.
Even for Corey, with his Dad set to be best man at his wedding in November.
“It took a little bit for them to get over what happened but they knew I was 16 and that I didn’t mean for it to get out of hand but they knew like … look what came out of it,” he said.
“They were sort of proud with how I handled a lot of situations as well. Because for a 16-year-old to take on all that, it was a lot at the time.
“Cameras in my face left, right and centre – it was full-on.”
Corey made international headlines after throwing the unchaperoned party, notorious for how quickly it spiralled out of hand.
And his notoriety continued following the A Current Affair interview where he refused to take off his iconic sunglasses.
But with no sunnies over his eyes, and a wedding on the horizon, Corey says he’s matured and appreciated the path his life had taken.
“What can you say? I don’t know, it was weird. It made international news and it still does make news seven years on,” he said.
“It’s good I guess, I do enjoy it. I’m a lot older so I can handle things a lot better as well.
“Back then some of the things I was meant to do, I sort of didn’t want to do it. I was a lot younger but now I see it more with a business mind.”
With the idea for an app in the pipeline, and plans currently in motion for Corey to help host a charity party soon, the future looks bright for the former party boy.
“I never thought it would reach that level but once it did, you’ve gotta roll with it,” he said.
“If you try to fight it, it could have gotten a lot worse.
“You just had to roll with it and just see what happens after and I did and look – it’s seven years on and I’m still getting interviews and people coming and talking about the party I did when I was 16.”
