Only eight months after opening, Spanian’s Kebabs appears to be facing an uphill battle at its Newtown restaurant on King Street, one of Sydney’s most competitive hospitality strips.

The venue was reportedly empty on Friday night, with no customers seen inside while nearby restaurants continued serving diners.

YouTuber Spanian, whose real name is Anthony Lees, launched the bricks-and-mortar outlet in January after building a substantial online following. Opening on Newtown’s notoriously demanding King Street was a major bet on his kebab brand.

At first, the move appeared to pay off. Large crowds filled the restaurant on its opening day, fuelling expectations that the business could become a major success.

That initial excitement, however, appears to have cooled. Reports suggest the store has struggled to attract customers during busy lunch periods and even on Friday evenings, despite neighbouring venues continuing to draw strong foot traffic.

The Newtown site also comes with a challenging history.

Mr Potato previously operated from the premises before collapsing dramatically last year. Before that, the shop remained vacant for three years, leading some hospitality operators to view the address as a difficult one to sustain a business in.

Questions about the future of Spanian’s Newtown restaurant have been compounded by a series of harsh customer reviews.

One customer wrote: ‘First time trying Spanian’s kebab and disappointed! Also, no one was even there on a Saturday night except for me ordering. Newtown was packed and not one single person was inside the shop!’

Another reviewer, who said they had travelled from New Zealand to try the food, was similarly unimpressed: ‘Flew in from New Zealand and have been wanting to try his kebabs for some time now. Was so disappointed in them. So bland, and the chicken was so dry. The chips weren’t even seasoned; they tasted like fries I bought from the supermarket and just air-fried myself… all in all, a bad experience and bad food.’

A third reviewer, claiming to work opposite the restaurant, questioned how the business remained viable. ‘I really don’t know how you’re not going broke from this shop, as it’s pretty much empty all the time,’ they wrote.

Any financial difficulties affecting individual locations may not necessarily have a direct impact on Spanian himself, however.

The business operates through a franchise structure, with franchisees reportedly paying between $250,000 and $350,000 plus GST for the right to use the Spanian’s Kebabs brand.

Franchise operators are also responsible for costs such as rent, wages and other ongoing staffing expenses.

With six Spanian’s Kebabs franchises in operation, franchise fees alone could potentially have brought in more than $1.5 million for the wider business.

The brand began as a food truck in Haberfield, in Sydney’s Inner West, before expanding rapidly into a franchise network across New South Wales and other states.

The company’s website currently lists outlets in Gosford, Kogarah, Newtown and Macarthur Square across NSW. Several food truck sites previously linked to the business no longer appear on the list.

Rejecting ‘conspiracy theories’ and suggestions that franchisees had been ‘scammed’ or that locations had shut due to a lack of customers, Spanian insisted the trucks were simply being relocated.

Lees said the Parramatta food truck’s lease had expired, prompting the operators to temporarily relocate to Strathfield before ultimately moving to Brisbane.

‘They’re trucks, they move. That’s why they’re trucks,’ he said.

‘The truck that was in Wyong is the truck in Gosford. The Gosford location is better, more central. They moved there. That’s their right. That’s why it’s a food truck. They move.

‘The truck that was in Wollongong is now getting built in Wollongong CBD on the main street. It’s probably our best store. They’ve been building it for two months. They’re very excited.

‘The Penrith location, the land they were on, the cafe next to it, they went bankrupt, so they lost their lease. So they’re finding a better location. Hopefully, it’s going to be in the Penrith Westfield next to the Oporto’s or Nando’s.’

Lees said the Smeaton Grange food truck was now operating at Macarthur Square Shopping Centre.

He also said Uber Eats orders were up and that three more stores were planned, including locations in Brisbane and Melbourne. 

MORE STORY: Why Speedster Jean-Matteo Bahoya Could Be Leeds’ Next Doku

Retail expert Barry Urquhart said Spanian’s celebrity status and huge social media following were no guarantee of long-term success, arguing consumers were increasingly less reliant on influencer endorsements when deciding where to spend their money.

‘Recommendations, referrals and endorsements just simply aren’t cutting the mustard at the moment,’ he told the Daily Mail.

‘The presence and influence of influencers has fallen away appreciably.’

Mr Urquhart said Spanian’s popularity may have initially attracted curious customers, but celebrity alone was rarely enough to sustain a hospitality business.

‘There is always a fine line between arrogance and ignorance, and a lot of arrogant people are unknowingly ignorant of the realities of the market forces,’ he said.

‘Most entrepreneurs are terrible at administration. It’s got very little probability of success and sustained growth.’

While Spanian’s public profile resonated with some Australians as a lovable rogue figure in the mould of Ned Kelly or Crocodile Dundee, Mr Urquhart said the novelty appeared to have faded quickly.

‘He did have a profile that was kind of part of the Australian irreverence,’ he said.

‘We’ll give him an audience, and it tired very, very quickly.’

Mr Urquhart said the key to surviving beyond the initial burst of curiosity was converting first-time visitors into loyal customers who returned again and again.

‘A very fundamental tenet of successful business is: what is the lifetime value of the customer? It’s not the one purchase. It’s how often they come back,’ he said.

‘The most effective, cost-efficient way to get business is repeat business.

‘Have loyalty and have a preferred brand.’

He argued Spanian’s Kebabs had failed to establish a distinctive position in an already crowded fast-food market.

‘He hasn’t got a brand. He hasn’t got recognition. He’s got no market positioning that says he’s famous for it,’ Mr Urquhart said.

‘There seems to be no positioning or presence in the marketplace.

‘He’s just selling kebabs now, and not very good ones.’

Mr Urquhart said the reputation of the Newtown address could make the battle even harder.

‘It’s just toxic. If there is a reputation about a location, the probability of success for a business from that location is very, very marginal.

‘The reputation overwhelms the brand. That is figuratively the kiss of death.’

Spanian’s move into hospitality marked another chapter in a dramatic personal transformation.

The influencer-turned-entrepreneur was once Sydney’s poster boy for the working-class youth subculture known as eshays, recognised for tracksuits, bum bags, street slang and a tough image.

Now a businessman and entertainer, he has previous convictions for armed robbery, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and reckless wounding.

His most recent prison sentence was related to operating a criminal drug supply network. In total, he has spent more than 12 years behind bars.

Following his release from prison in 2017, Lees reinvented himself online, eventually launching the hugely successful YouTube series Into the Hood, in which he travels through some of Australia’s and the world’s most dangerous and crime-ridden neighbourhoods.

Sam Wood has been placed on indefinite leave from his multimillion-dollar fitness and nutrition businesses after being charged with alleged domestic violence offences and denied bail.

The 46-year-old was not required to appear at a Queensland court on Monday and will remain in custody until his bail application is heard on Thursday.

Queensland Police charged Wood with assault occasioning bodily harm in a domestic violence context and strangulation in a domestic setting after officers were called to a Noosa property at around 9pm on Saturday.

The company operating his 28 by Sam Wood fitness brand has responded to the allegations, confirming the reality television personality will step away from his professional responsibilities while the matter proceeds.

‘DBG Health, the parent company of 28 by Sam Wood, has zero tolerance for domestic violence,’ a spokesperson for DBG Health said.

‘While the matter is under investigation and before the court, Sam Wood is on indefinite leave from his duties. Our thoughts are with the family and anyone in the community affected by domestic violence,’ the spokesperson added.

The company said Mark Watkins, chief operating officer of 28 Group, would oversee the business during Wood’s absence.

DBG Health, which is owned by billionaire Dennis Bastas, also operates the medical weight-loss company Ollo For Women.

Wood will remain behind bars after proceedings in his domestic violence case were adjourned to allow his legal team to prepare a bail application and formulate his response to the charges.

He did not attend Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Monday, with his lawyer, Mathew Cuskelly, appearing on his behalf.

Mr Cuskelly requested that the matter return to court on Thursday, when Wood is expected to seek bail.

The celebrity personal trainer is expected to stay in the local watchhouse until at least Thursday’s hearing.

Wood, who shares three children with his wife, Snezana, was arrested on Saturday after police were called to a property on Noosa’s Hastings Street, where he had been staying during a holiday.

A Queensland Police spokesperson said officers attended the address at approximately 9pm after receiving a report of alleged domestic violence.

MUST READ: Mass Shooting at Georgia Block Party Kills 2, Injures 35

‘Police have charged a 46-year-old Victorian man with domestic violence offences early this morning, 4 October,’ the spokesperson said.

‘The man has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm (domestic violence) and strangulation in a domestic setting.’

Mr Cuskelly said Wood planned to contest the allegations and that he would speak with his client again after visiting him in the watchhouse the previous night.

The lawyer said Wood was in good spirits but worried about his family and keen to return to Victoria.

The court developments come after Snezana, who met Wood on The Bachelor in 2015, publicly addressed the allegations on Monday morning. 

‘This is a difficult time for all of us, we are working through this as a family and are thoroughly co-operating with the authorities,’ they said, sharing the statement on both of their Instagram accounts.

Wood’s social media follower count has also fallen dramatically, dropping by thousands amid the allegations.

The fitness entrepreneur married Snezana in an outdoor ceremony in Byron Bay in 2018.

They went on to have three children together, Willow, eight, Charlie, seven, and Harper, four.

They also co-parent  Eve, 21, who is Snezana’s daughter from a previous relationship.

The Woods live in Brighton, Victoria, where they recently purchased a $7 million home in February. 

The celebrity trainer funnelled his Bachelor fame into building his highly successful fitness empire. 

Wood founded the fitness and training business 28 by Sam Wood, which he sold in 2022 for $71 million, and he remains the owner of The Woodshed gym in Melbourne.

Just four months ago, Wood was announced as the face of Ollo For Women, a newly launched platform focused on medical weight loss, nutrition and telehealth. 

A tourist has faced widespread backlash in Hawaii after entering a closed Maui beach despite clear warnings, then issuing an apology when footage of the incident spread online.

North Carolina visitor Nuri Abdullah recorded herself entering Waiʻānapanapa State Park on September 26, even though the popular destination had been shut following severe weather across the islands.

The warning sign stated that the beach and hiking trails were closed, but Abdullah appeared to acknowledge the restriction before making clear that she intended to ignore it.

‘You see this? Guess what. I don’t care about it. I’mma go down anyway,’ she declared in the TikTok video as she ventured beyond the closed sign.

Her video showed the striking black-sand shoreline, jagged volcanic rocks and waves crashing along the coast.

“Black sand beach, we got some waves,” she said in the recording. “Look at these beautiful black rocks. Black sand that has minerals and s***.”

Authorities later warned that the scenic outing could easily have turned into a life-threatening emergency.

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said the park was closed because storm-related conditions had created several serious dangers, including intense rain, strong winds, flash flooding, falling debris and hazardous surf.

Officials said Abdullah crossed a locked gate and continued past multiple signs warning that the area was off-limits.

“When we look at the video here, clearly she’s trespassing,” DLNR spokesman Andrew Laurence told Hawaii News Now.

“The park was closed. That means the gate at the road was locked, and then she went past the two signs that said the area was closed.”

Laurence added that the powerful surf visible in Abdullah’s own footage demonstrated the reason officials had closed Waiʻānapanapa State Park.

“She could have died before anybody could get to her,” he warned.

The video sparked anger in the remote Hana community. Residents said Abdullah had ignored safety measures intended to protect visitors while also showing a lack of respect for a location of major cultural importance.

According to the DLNR, Waiʻānapanapa is home to significant cultural resources, including historic sites, burial grounds and a heiau, a traditional Hawaiian place of worship.

“There’s a certain level of respect that anybody should have when visiting that space,” Hana resident Giselle Davidson told Hawaii News Now.

‘And unfortunately, in this case, it was pretty clear that she was trying to get attention and she was breaking the law.’

Davidson stressed that locals were not opposed to outsiders enjoying the spectacular scenery, but said visitors were expected to behave responsibly.

CHECK THIS OUT: Bourbon CEO Ousted After Family Members Accuse Him of Secretly Filming Them Having Sex

‘We love for people to visit Hana in a respectful way. We want to share this beauty with people. We want people to love it as much as we do. But respect is key to that. And that goes for anywhere you travel,’ she said.

Anger also erupted in the comments on Abdullah’s video.

‘Then they wonder why Hawaii people don’t like tourists!’ one commenter wrote.

‘I don’t get why folks choose to visit a place then disrespect it,’ another said.

Abdullah returned to social media two days later with an apology, admitting that she knew the beach was closed when she entered.

‘I want to take time out to apologize for the recent video that’s been causing a lot of drama and it’s just been a lot,’ she said. 

‘To all the Hawaiian natives, I do want to apologize to you guys for disrespecting your land and for ignoring the sign.’

But Abdullah also hit back at some of the more vicious reaction she said she had received.

‘To all the people who are being disrespectful, rude and sending me threats, you guys can go to hell,’ she said.

Abdullah explained that it had been her first visit to Hawaii and said she had saved around $10,000 for what she regarded as a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

She insisted that her decision to ignore the restrictions had not been intended as an insult to the local community.

‘When I seen the sign and acknowledged it, I wasn’t meaning any disrespect by crossing the lines,’ she told Hawaii News Now.

‘I didn’t know I was disrespecting the land or its people. I just simply wanted to go.’

She conceded there had been no confusion over whether the beach itself was supposed to be off-limits.

‘I knew that the beach was closed fully. And I do take responsibility for going behind that sign even though the beach was closed,’ Abdullah said.

The TikTokker has now used the controversy to warn other tourists against repeating her mistake.

‘You never know what lands are sacred,’ she said in a later video. ‘So I would say to all the tourists, do not go on the beach if there’s a closed sign. Respect the signs.’

Entering a closed Hawaii state park can carry serious penalties. 

Under state administrative rules, violators can face fines ranging from $500 to $2,000 and as many as 30 days behind bars.

Care home executive Sukhjit Bains was accustomed to negotiating tough deals. Even so, he could hardly have expected the extraordinary bargain that emerged from a property auction in Birmingham.

In 2013, he bought a three-bedroom house from Birmingham City Council for £395,000. A conveyancing blunder then appeared to give him something far more valuable: the adjoining George Dixon Primary School.

The error occurred when Mr Bains’s solicitor submitted the wrong form of contract while completing the purchase. The document mistakenly included the school, and the council’s conveyancer approved it without spotting the mistake.

As a result, the 50-year-old was recorded as owning not only the house but also George Dixon Primary School, in what appears to have been a major administrative failure by Birmingham City Council.

In theory, the error could have allowed Mr Bains to remove the school’s teachers and pupils, sell the site for millions of pounds or even demolish the building.

A legal expert who reviewed documents relating to the dispute told the Daily Mail: “I don’t think I’ve ever come across anything like this in 40 years. It’s the most incredible legal cock-up I can recall.”

Parents of the 324 pupils at George Dixon Primary are believed to have been unaware that the school was caught up in the extraordinary property dispute, which began 13 years ago but only recently came to light.

Birmingham City Council, which declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023, has now taken legal steps to reclaim ownership of the school.

Mr Bains, who operates the care provider NH Care Ltd, is thought not to have known that the sale had inadvertently transferred the valuable school site to his company. The property deal involved a three-bedroom semi-detached house bought at auction in 2013.

He and the company’s two other directors reportedly discovered the mistake only after the council contacted them last year and asked for the school to be returned.

According to Birmingham City Council, Mr Bains initially agreed to correct the situation after officials explained what had happened. The council says he later stopped responding and declined to sign the paperwork required to transfer the property back.

Officials say they were subsequently unable to reach him by telephone or post. They also claim that repeated visits to his office failed to locate him.

When approached by the Daily Mail this week, however, Mr Bains answered the door. He declined to comment on the dispute.

Birmingham City Council has now brought proceedings against Mr Bains’s company and Lloyds Bank, which provided his financing, in the High Court in London. The council is seeking a formal order returning the school to its ownership.

The authority has also stressed that neither the school building nor its playing fields could be sold without approval from the Secretary of State.

The house at the centre of the dispute stands on Fountain Road in Edgbaston. Its back garden borders the playing fields belonging to George Dixon Primary School.

The property was first constructed as accommodation for the school’s caretaker before being converted into a family home. In the early 1960s, its childless owners left it to Birmingham City Council in their wills.

It was then converted into a children’s home and used by the council in that capacity before it was finally closed and sold to Mr Bains in 2013.

RELATED: Detainee Dies After Medical Episode in Custody at NYPD Precinct

Strangely though his company has never utilised the property.

Despite Mr Bains operating other care homes in Birmingham and Leicester, the house has remained empty and is now boarded up.

Neighbours in Fountain Road – where properties sell for up to £500,000 – complain that it has instead become a hub for antisocial behaviour.

A neighbour, who has lived on the road since 1954, told the Daily Mail the property had become ‘overrun by prostitutes and druggies’.

The mistake that led to the case is thought to have come about after Mr Bains’s lawyers drafted a contract to be signed by the council but used the wrong form.

That was because the school and house are both registered under the same land registry number and the form which was used, a TR1, only transfers all of the property registered under a number. 

Another form, a TP1, should have been used which only transfers a specific portion of a land parcel.

Despite submitting the incorrect form, the council’s lawyers didn’t notice but signed and executed it, in effect handing Mr Bains ownership of the school for free.

The error was only uncovered over a decade later on April 12, 2024, when the school was looking into becoming an academy – and learned that they didn’t actually own the building.

Birmingham, which was run by Labour for 16 years until a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Greens and Independents took over control earlier this year, has faced intense criticism for perceived mismanagement in recent years particularly over bin strikes and its dire finances. It only finally balanced its books this year.

Mr Bains’s company has also faced criticism.

Care home inspectors found residents with learning difficulties at one NH Care home had been subjected to ‘abusive behaviour and threats’.

The Care Quality Commission found physical, verbal and emotional abuse were ‘commonplace’ at Summerfield House in Birmingham in 2021.

The primary school has also been strongly criticised recently.

It has 324 pupils despite only having capacity for 300, an Ofsted report from February said.

The inspection found that it needed attention and urgent improvement and a large proportion of disadvantaged pupils did not achieve well and were particularly weak in reading, writing and maths while many children do not attend regularly and many remain unsure about British values.

A spokesperson for Birmingham said of the school fiasco: ‘The council is pursuing the appropriate legal process to rectify the position. As the matter is currently the subject of ongoing legal proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further.’

A solicitor for Mr Bains pointed out that the 2013 property transfer was to his company NH Care Limited, and not to him as an individual.

Lloyds Bank has been contacted.