An Aussie TV star was floored after finding himself on the receiving end of what he felt was a ‘passive aggressive’ and ‘un-Australian’ act from his neighbours. But not everyone was convinced the neighbours were in the wrong.
Jimmy Nicholson, a pilot best known for starring on the 2021 season of The Bachelor shared a video showing a tiny detail he noticed at the front of his driveway.
‘Surely this is the most un-Australian act of 2026. Have a look at this,’ Jimmy said to the camera, as he indicated the start of his driveway and the adjacent nature strips alongside it.
‘A neighbour has mowed to here,’ he laughed, pointing out how the nature strip outside his neighbour’s home was freshly trimmed but stopped around a metre from his own driveway, leaving behind long blades of bushy grass.
However, the problem didn’t end there.
The dad then panned the camera to the other side of the driveway, showing how the neighbour on the opposite side had also recently mowed their lawn – but had purposefully left an untouched strip of overgrown grass alongside Jimmy’s driveway.
‘That is passive aggressive mowing at its finest,’ he added.
Jimmy’s post, which has amassed 1.1 million views and over 1,800 comments, was captioned: ‘Serious question – Do my neighbours hate me or is this fair play?’
Jimmy Nicholson noticed the nature strip outside his neighbour’s home was freshly trimmed but stopped around a metre from his own driveway, leaving behind long blades of bushy grass
Jimmy sparked heated online discussion after calling out an un-neighbourly act
The video quickly sparked debate online, with huge division over who was right and wrong in this situation.
A number of people were up in arms, firmly on Jimmy’s side.
‘Seriously… that’s low… couldn’t just go a few more strokes?’ observed one person.
‘Crikey, what is wrong with these people?’ said another. ‘Mow the lawn and do the neighbour’s strip if you’re out chugging along,’ another agreed.
‘Both of your neighbours seem unkind! Seriously, why go through all that effort only to leave a little strip? Clearly they don’t know you’re a busy man with a small child!’
‘Super unneighbourly and petty!’ one added.
However, the overwhelming majority of replies had a very different interpretation of why the neighbours on either side of his driveway had both opted not to mow the small patch of grass that belonged to Jimmy.
‘If both neighbours are doing it, kinda looks like you’re the problem champ,’ read one reply – with a similar sentiment echoed by many others.
The TV star shared a video showing how both his neighbours had deliberately not mowed the long grass alongside his driveway
Jimmy’s video erupted with thousands of comments. Some sided with the pilot, but the vast majority felt it was, in fact, Jimmy who was in the wrong
‘Read the room, mate. Both neighbours tell you something,’ another cautioned.
This camp also took issue with Jimmy having labelled the neighbours’ act as ‘un-Australian’.
‘The un-Australian bit is you letting your lawn get to that length,’ one said bluntly.
‘Un-Australian to not be keeping on top of your lawn care!’ agreed another.
Several replies pointed to the state of Jimmy’s driveway landscaping and the length of the grass, suggesting that the unkempt frontage may have frustrated his neighbours – prompting both to leave unmowed grass either side of his driveway.
‘Maybe just mow your own lawn before it’s knee-high. You clearly don’t care. It’s not their job to mow your lawn,’ one said.
As for Jimmy’s question about whether his neighbours ‘hate’ him, many felt the fact that neither mowed beside his driveway made the message loud and clear.
‘I would say that you have never mowed their side and they are sick of it,’ one said.
One lengthy reply explained: ‘Looks like they both hate you! Do you maybe feel because you have such a small amount of grass on either side of your driveway it’s no biggie for them to mow it? Do you ever mow theirs? Maybe they think you’re taking the p*** by letting it grow that long in hope that they’ll mow it for you. They clearly discussed it together and decided to show you exactly what they think of you by way of lawn-mowing passive aggression. I can’t think of anything more Australian.’
Another simply replied: ‘Hey mate, take a hint! You might be the problem here. Ask both your neighbours and cut your own grass.’
Jimmy appeared on season nine of The Bachelor, where he met his now-wife Holly Kingston
However some replies lightheartedly theorised that the neighbours had stopped cutting the grass due to rising fuel prices.
‘Cost of petrol – how can you blame them?’ joked one person.
‘That’s about $1,000 worth of mower fuel he’s saved!’ laughed another.
The online discussion also spring boarded into a debate about whether neighbours should only mow their own nature strip – or their neighbours’ as well.
Some people were firmly in the camp of refusing to cut anyone’s grass but their own.
One person explained, ‘Others don’t return the favour when I have done so’ – and a number of replies agreed that they had come to a similar realisation.
‘I’m not here to look after my neighbours who don’t look after me,’ added another.
But the topic also heartwarmingly gave rise to plenty of comments from people who shared fond stories of unspoken reciprocated mowing arrangements with their neighbours.
‘We always mow our neighbours’ verge on both sides. They do ours if they are mowing, it’s an unspoken Aussie law,’ one shared.
In addition to being a reality TV star, Jimmy is a pilot
‘When I mow, I mow my neighbour’s nature strip. When he mows, he mows mine. We’ve never exchanged words about it. It’s an unspoken agreement. This is the way.’
‘Where we used to live, my husband not only mowed next door’s nature strip sometimes, he walked across the road and did the other neighbour’s as well. I don’t understand how people can be so petty.’
‘Shoutout to my neighbour for keeping it real – whoever grabs the mower first does all three lawns, every time! Neighbourly respect. Buy them a carton of beer if they do more than you.’
The post also offered Jimmy some advice on how to improve the situation.
‘Get the mower out and make a point of mowing your grass and theirs as well a few times. Hopefully they get the hint,’ one person recommended.
