He shot to viral fame after catching his girlfriend in bed with his son, but the man at the centre of the extraordinary family scandal is no stranger to the spotlight – or heartbreak.

Gold Coast builder Levi Hilton went viral after posting a video of the moment he burst in on former girlfriend Jessica Te Huia and his 19-year-old son, Lorenzo Hilton.

The pair were asleep in their underwear and Hilton claimed he had been blindsided by the betrayal, sparking fierce debate online and gaining more than 40,000 followers within a matter of hours.

But the Daily Mail can reveal Hilton has featured in several news stories over the years, from devastating family tragedy to courtroom appearances and violent altercations.

Originally from New Zealand, Hilton lost his younger brother Ridge in a house fire in 2014. He was just 17.

The teenager was found dead in his bedroom after flames engulfed the family’s Shepparton home in Victoria in the early hours of the morning.

Ridge had been left home alone while his parents and siblings travelled to Queensland for job interviews as the family explored relocating interstate.

Neighbours later reported hearing loud music coming from the house in the hours before the fire.

Gold Coast builder Levi Hilton (pictured) went viral after posting a video of the moment he burst in on former girlfriend Jessica Te Huia and his 19-year-old son, Lorenzo Hilton

Hilton lost his younger brother Ridge (pictured) in a house fire in 2014

Following Ridge’s death, the close-knit family returned to New Zealand to lay the teenager to rest.

Years later, Hilton found himself before the courts.

In 2020, he pleaded guilty to multiple traffic offences, including handing over a fake driver’s licence, driving while disqualified, and riding an unregistered, uninsured Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Representing himself in court, Hilton told the magistrate he was in the process of selling the Harley and hoped to receive $24,000 for it before asking whether she was ‘interested’.

‘No,’ Magistrate Rosemary Gilbert replied. 

She fined Hilton $2,310 and disqualified him from driving for two years.

In 2022, he again faced court over his role in a violent street brawl, in which frontline workers were assaulted.

Hilton later pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a police officer and one count of assaulting an ambulance officer.

In 2020, Hilton told the magistrate he was in the process of selling the Harley and hoped to receive $24,000 for it

In 2022, Hilton again faced court over his role in a violent street brawl in which frontline workers were assaulted

The court heard he became violent after witnessing his younger brother’s arrest. It was also told that his brother had grown hostile due to an alleged delay in paramedics arriving.

The following year, Hilton was back before the courts after an altercation involving an elderly retired police officer and decorated Army veteran.

Beenleigh Magistrates Court heard on July 20, 2023, that Hilton went to collect a vehicle safety certificate from the then 84-year-old man at Waterford on January 18, 2022.

A dispute broke out and the court heard Hilton grabbed the veteran’s hand while attempting to take the certificate, causing the elderly man to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

The veteran said he had become ‘withdrawn and scared’ since the attack.

Hilton pleaded guilty to one count of common assault and was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for nine months.

In the original video Hilton posted last week, he stormed into a bedroom and captured footage of himself peeling back the covers to show both Te Huia and Lorenzo in their underwear.

‘Why are you in her bed?’ he asked Lorenzo, before turning the camera toward Te Huia.

‘I’m not doing anything, bro,’ replied Te Huia, whose eyes were still closed, as she demanded Hilton get out of her house.

In the original video Hilton posted last Monday, he stormed into a bedroom and captured footage of himself peeling back the covers to show Te Huia and Lorenzo in their underwear

Lorenzo later confirmed he was in a relationship with Te Huia

‘Are you having sex with my son? Are you?’ he fumed. ‘Why is my son in your bed?’  

‘My 19-year-old boy… here’s proof. Proof’s in the pudding. You’re in undies with my son.’

She responded: ‘I’m always in undies, bro… I haven’t even done anything, Levi.’

Te Huia later defended the series of events that resulted in her being splashed across the internet, sparking cruel copycat videos and nasty comments.

Far from a betrayal, she said her relationship with Hilton was long in the past and that she had been in a happy, secure relationship with Lorenzo for about three weeks.

But in a dramatic update days later, she announced to the Mail she had split from Lorenzo because he was not mature enough for her.

Since then, there have been unconfirmed reports the age-gap couple are back together – proving this real-life soap opera is far from over.