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The longtime boyfriend of Molly Meldrum has rushed to his partner’s side as the music icon grapples with the humiliating fallout from publicly exposing himself in front of concert revellers.
Alarming footage emerged this week of the 80-year-old TV star exposing his private parts near the end of Rod Stewart‘s set at Melbourne‘s Rod Laver Arena a week ago.
The former Countdown and Hey Hey It’s Saturday star appears to urinate on the floor while looking up at the stage wearing his trademark Stetson cowboy hat, months after Meldrum famously ‘mooned’ the crowd at an Elton John performance.
His longtime partner, Thai businessman Yan Wongngam, made a rare public sighting outside Meldrum’s Richmond home on Tuesday after taking the music legend’s beloved dog Ziggy for a walk.
Molly Meldrum’s partner Yan Wongngam speaks to supporters outside the music icon’s home in Richmond, Melbourne on Tuesday
Molly Meldrum (left) has been with his partner Yan Wongngam (right) for three decades. The couple are pictured at the Mushroom Group’s 40th anniversary celebration in 2013
Dressed in a jumper, shorts and thongs, Wongngam chatted to concerned well-wishers who had rushed to Meldrum’s inner-city home to pledge their support.
The supporters were turned away as Wongngam went inside, where Meldrum kept a low profile.
Wongngam was out and about again on Wednesday taking Ziggy for a walk.
It comes after Meldrum’s assistant Alan Evers-Buckland told Daily Mail Australia the music legend was ’embarrassed and of course sorry’ about his behaviour.
Meldrum and Wongngam, a courier company owner based in Thailand, met in a Bangkok gym three decades ago.
They’re extremely private about their long-term relationship and have only been photographed together in public twice.
They were separated for at least a year while international borders were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21.
Yan Wongngam was pictured walking Ziggy again on Wednesday
Yan Wongngam took Molly Meldrum’s beloved dog Ziggy for a walk as the music icon kept a low profile inside
Meldrum admitted the time apart from Wongngam hadn’t been easy.
‘It has been very hard,’ he told New Idea in 2021.
‘We’ve been together for 30 or so years. I have a lot of other friends and family in Thailand, too – it’s my second home. As soon as the borders open and we can travel, we’ll be together.’
The couple were finally reunited in late 2021 when they made a rare sighting together at the state funeral of Meldrum’s showbusiness mate Bert Newton, Now To Love reported at the time.
The only other time he and Wongngam have been photographed at an event together was at the Mushroom Group’s 40th anniversary at Thousand Pound Ben in February 2013.
Yan Wongngam chatted to concerned well-wishers outside Molly Meldrum’s Richmond home before turning them away as he went inside
There are growing concerns for Molly Meldrum (pictured on February 26) after he publicly exposed himself at a Rod Stewart concert last week
Meldrum opened up about being bisexual in 2014, three years after he suffered an acquired brain injury from a nasty fall from a ladder which left him fighting for life with horrific injuries.
‘I never gave it a thought,’ he told the publication.
‘I was bi, I wasn’t really gay, you know, so it wasn’t really a matter of hiding it.’
He later told Channel Seven’s Sunday Night: ‘They’re questions I’ve been asked, like one recently, was ‘when did you come out?’ Well I didn’t think of it that way.
‘I love everyone, I do.’
Meldrum revealed in 2016 he and Wongngam had no plans to tie the knot, even after gay marriage legalisation was passed in Australia.
‘My partner, Yan Wongngam, and I aren’t married. We met 13 years ago. He has a courier business in Thailand and we met in Bangkok,’ he said.
‘Same-sex marriage is fine but it’s not our thing. If people want to do it, then they should.’
Meldrum and his partner Yan Wongngam (pictured on Wednesday) have been together for several decades
Molly Meldrum was captured on film exposing himself at Rod Stewart’s concert in Melbourne last week
Molly Meldrum breaks his silence after exposing his private parts at a Rod Stewart concert after ‘disgusted’ onlooker called him out – and gives an explanation for his behaviour
By Nic White and Tita Smith for Daily Mail Australia
Music legend Molly Meldrum has apologised and is ’embarrassed’ after Daily Mail Australia revealed video of the TV star exposing himself at a Rod Stewart concert.
The clip shows the 80-year-old TV star with his private parts removed from his pants near the end of the pop singer’s set at Melbourne‘s Rod Laver Arena last Wednesday night.
The former Countdown and Hey Hey It’s Saturday star appeared to urinate on the floor while looking up at the stage and wearing his famous Stetson cowboy hat.
Meldrum’s assistant Alan Evers-Buckland said the music legend was ’embarrassed and of course sorry’ about his behaviour.
‘I took Molly along with my mother and a friend who helps with Molly (a paramedic) to the Rod Stewart concert last week,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We have a dedicated and wonderful team of people who care for Molly.
‘Unfortunately, you can’t control everything or see everything no matter how dedicated you are or vigilant you are.
‘Molly is embarrassed and of course sorry. He has given so much. He needs our love and support.’
Mr Evers-Buckland said despite being all around him, the team looking after Meldrum was unaware of the incident until Tuesday morning and didn’t see it coming.
‘It was 20 seconds in four hours, you can’t be watching him exactly for the whole time,’ he said.
‘He has a fantastic team… how much safer can we keep him? You can only plan for so many things and we never saw this coming.’
The alarming episode is the latest in a string of increasingly bizarre antics by Meldrum, who was a mainstay on Australian TV for decades and friends to some of the biggest names in music.
Entertainment commentator Peter Ford raised concerns the TV legend has not been adequately supervised since he fell from a ladder in 2011 and suffered head injuries.
‘His judgement is impaired, that’s a fact. I’m not making excuses for bad behaviour,’ he told 2GB on Tuesday.
Radio host Ben Fordham sympathised with the TV star admitting Meldrum faced ‘challenges’.
‘Someone needs to step in who’s close to Molly and say, ‘Hey, Molly. We need to look after you mate’,’ he said.
A witness said Meldrum urinated on the floor but no one rushed to clean it up
‘Sometimes it’s hard when you’re dealing with someone as famous as Molly Meldrum, they’re used to getting their own way.
‘But someone close to him has to say, ‘Molly, we need to keep you at home’.’
A witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were in the dancing area near the front of the stage when they noticed Meldrum sitting nearby with two friends.
‘He pulled out his penis… then began urinating.’
‘There were people everywhere. It was disgusting.’
Meldrum’s management has been approached for comment.
In the video, a woman is seen standing behind him, casually tapping her hand on the back of his chair in time with the music, seemingly unaware of what was happening in front.
The reveller said they alerted security guards to the urine on the floor.
But the guards were ‘more concerned about people filming Meldrum’ than about cleaning up the mess.
‘It was a disgrace,’ the witness said.
‘We all grew up with him and it is a shame he has morphed into this.
‘The people with him…..instead of telling him to put it away, they were just enjoying the show.’
Molly Meldrum has been filmed exposing his privates – just weeks after ‘mooning’ thousands of people (pictured) at Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in Melbourne
Sir Elton brought Meldrum up on stage for a performance of The B**** Is Back
In January, Meldrum caused a stir after dropping his pants during his old friend Sir Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour at AAMI Park in Melbourne.
During his final act, the I’m Still Standing hitmaker brought Meldrum on stage for a rendition of The B**** Is Back.
‘He’s quite honestly a national treasure,’ Sir Elton said as he welcomed Meldrum to the stage.
‘I want to thank him for all the love and loyalty he’s shown me over the years. I love you’.
But once on the platform, Meldrum turned around and flashed his derrière in front of the 30,000 strong crowd – sending Sir Elton fans into a frenzy online.
‘Expect the unexpected (Molly Meldrum) at the Elton John show tonight lmfao,’ one fan later wrote on Twitter.
‘Not entirely sure why. Not sure Elton was thrilled. I know I wouldn’t. But Molly will always be Molly!’ another person said.
Just two days later, Meldrum apologised for the bizarre stunt – blaming the ordeal on a wardrobe malfunction.
‘At the start of the night, my belt buckle broke and my pants were already falling down,’ Meldrum told the Herald Sun.
‘And on stage, one thing led to another.’
However, old footage soon resurfaced showing Meldrum performing the same bum-barring antics in front of spectators at the 2022 ChillOut Festival in Daylesford, Victoria.
Samuel Johnson pictured with Molly Meldrum during the actor’s Logie Award acceptance speech in 2017
In the clip, Meldrum could be seen pulling down his pants and slapping his bare behind.
The TV personality’s has also recently embroiled in a public feud with actor Samuel Johnson – who played Meldrum in an acclaimed 2016 miniseries.
The longstanding rift dates back to 2017 when Meldrum crashed Johnson’s Logie speech, but reared again in the wake of the flashing at Sir Elton’s show.
Johnson had been accepting an award for his role in Molly when Meldrum – despite promising not to – got on stage and dominated his speech time with a rambling spiel, which the actor had intended to use to promote donations to a cancer charity.
In a radio interview, Johnson responded to the mooning incident by airing their bad blood and vowing to never speak to Meldrum again.
‘I’m sick of him doing this, I’m sick of it,’ Johnson told 4BC’s Afternoons’ Sofie Formica in January.
‘He needs to hang up his hat. Now.’
Entertainment commentator Ford recently raised concerns about Meldrum’s condition following his fall from a ladder in 2011.
‘I’m not a close friend of Molly, but I think anyone who knows him is concerned and everybody wants Molly to be happy and safe, and everybody wants his legacy to be kept intact,’ he told news.com recently.
‘He has played such an extraordinary role in the evolution and growth of the Australian music industry and nobody wants his legacy to become all about wild and crazy antics and questionable behaviour.’
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