Levi Hilton, 38, recently posted on social media asserting that his 19-year-old son, Lorenzo, had broken up with his girlfriend, Jessica Te Huia, 38, and was left homeless and jobless. Hilton claimed Lorenzo was begging for forgiveness after an argument that involved police.
However, Te Huia told the Daily Mail that Hilton had been misled. She stated that she and Lorenzo had faked a breakup to appease his family, who disapproved of their relationship. The plan was to gain their support for a mining job, which had been promised if Lorenzo ended the relationship.
"His family disowned him because of me," Te Huia said. "They have been manipulating him into ending it and promising to get him a job in the mines."
According to Te Huia, an uncle offered to make industry introductions if Lorenzo ended the relationship. The couple then proceeded with the staged breakup. "He did his course and got his tickets for the mines and as far as they were concerned, we were over," she explained.
Te Huia indicated that Hilton learned Lorenzo was staying with his grandmother and mistakenly believed he had regained leverage, leading to his social media posts about the breakup. "Lorenzo was staying with his nan and Levi found out about it and he thought he had all this power back, telling everyone on social media his son was jobless and homeless," she stated.
The deception, however, eventually unraveled when Hilton's family discovered Lorenzo was still seeing Te Huia. This led to the withdrawal of the job offer and subsequent stress on the couple's relationship. A dispute arose when Lorenzo was reportedly upset about his family imposing conditions on who he could see. This led to an argument, after which Te Huia reportedly asked Lorenzo to leave and changed the entry code to her home.
Lorenzo then attempted to re-enter the property by climbing onto the roof, prompting the police to be called. Te Huia declined to make a statement and agreed to a protection order that requires Lorenzo to be invited before visiting. Despite these events, Te Huia affirmed that they remain together and she advised Lorenzo to focus on himself, find a job, and seek anger management.
The 'stepmum saga' initially gained public attention on June 1, when Hilton posted a video of himself breaking into Te Huia's bedroom. The footage showed him confronting his son and Te Huia, questioning their relationship.