![\"North](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3113e259d03315bf3ce0f0a7bda3df6de83f7139.jpg\")
Camera IconNorth Melbourne forward Paul Curtis and his son Elliot. Credit: 7NEWS\/7NEWS<\/p>\nNorth Melbourne small forward Paul Curtis has made a sensational claim about his sources of hydration, declaring that he does not actually drink water.<\/p>\n
The bizarre admission was made during a segment on Footy on Nine\u2019s Players program, with host Felix Von Hofe welcoming AFL players Nick Larkey, Rhylee West, and Tristan Xerri for a light-hearted chat.<\/p>\n
Kangaroos captain Nick Larkey was selected to FaceTime a teammate on a segment labelled \u201cPhone Roulette\u201d, reaching Curtis who was out to dinner with other players and coaches.<\/p>\n
After dishing some dirt on Xerri, his team\u2019s ruckman, the 23-year-old then made the startling hydration claim after it was raised both at his dinner table moments earlier, and on the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t drink water, yeah,\u201d Curtis confirmed.<\/p>\n
Asked what he replaces the hydration staple with, the quirky forward claimed he drinks \u201cCoke Zero\u201d.<\/p>\n
Curtis only needs to look to his club\u2019s vice-captain in Harry Sheezel for nutritional advice, with the 21-year-old midfielder outspoken about his meticulous game day preparation and daily nutrition.<\/p>\n
However, the revelation is exactly on brand for the emerging talent, with fans coming to expect the unexpected from Curtis.<\/p>\n
In early March 2025, Curtis publicly admitted that he had hidden the fact he was a father from teammates until his son, Elijah, was six-months-old.<\/p>\n
And when he did, not many believed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTelling people was the hardest thing for me. Once I told everyone, it was a weight off my shoulders,\u201d Curtis explained to afl.com.au at the time.<\/p>\n
\u2018Clarko\u2019 (coach Alastair Clarkson) actually guessed it to be fair. I pulled him aside for a chat and I was like, \u2018Oh Clarko, I\u2019ve got something to tell ya, it\u2019s pretty exciting for me\u2019 and he\u2019s like, \u2018You\u2019ve got a baby!\u2019 And I said \u2018Yeah!\u2019\u201d.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camera IconNorth Melbourne forward Paul Curtis and his son Elliot. Credit: 7NEWS\/7NEWS<\/p>\n
The powerful small forward also boasts a rare strength benchmark both at his club and across the AFL, with rumours claiming he can bench press between 140-160kg. He is believed to weigh roughly 75kg.<\/p>\n
In yet another eyebrow-raising tale that emerged this year, it was revealed Curtis was rushed home from a UK holiday in December after falling seriously ill.<\/p>\n
He told Channel 7\u2019s Ryan Daniels he was prescribed strong antibiotics and discharged from a London hospital after a short consultation, before boarding a flight onward to Bali.<\/p>\n
However, the forward suffered an allergic reaction on the flight, and was hospitalised in Bali where he was diagnosed with empyema.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just swelled up; like, my face just puffed up. I had a rash all over my body, my feet swelled up, so I couldn\u2019t walk,\u201d Curtis said.<\/p>\n
With treatment unsuccessful, he was urgently flown to Perth for emergency surgery where almost a litre of pus required removal from his lung.<\/p>\n
He remained hospitalised in WA for eight days.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s given me a good perspective on life, I guess, and how quickly things can change, and some things just aren\u2019t in your control,\u201d Curtis said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Melbourne small forward Paul Curtis has made a sensational claim about his sources of hydration, declaring that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[638,64,63,134,588],"class_list":["post-851344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}