OG social media star and former tanning addict Kurt Coleman reveals the dark side of teenage fame as he admits strangers handed him drugs he took and people spat on him in the street - before pancreatitis changed his life

Kurt Coleman built his name on outrageous confidence, a deep tan and a party boy image.

But behind the selfies and nightclub appearances, one of Australia's earliest social media stars says he was dealing with public abuse, accepting drugs from strangers and struggling to escape a persona that had become his livelihood.

Speaking to the Daily Mail in a revealing sit-down interview, Kurt Coleman, 29, reflected on the darker side of finding fame as a teenager and the painful health scare that forced him to rethink his lifestyle. 

In one of his most confronting admissions, Kurt said he used to take substances offered to him while drinking, despite not knowing what they were. 

'It was just everyone throwing at me, and I'd be really drunk,' he recalled.

'People would just giving me drugs and I'd go, "Okay", since I was young. So when I was out, I would just have I didn't even know what it was, you know? And so now I don't take anything.'

For Kurt, partying was more than a social activity. It had become part of the public image he was paid to maintain.

As appearances, hosting gigs and events piled up, he felt pressure to keep delivering the wild personality audiences expected.

'People wanted me to be the crazy partying like they wanted that. And when that's who you are and you're tied up in that as a job, it's so hard to even be healthy or change.'

Away from the events, Kurt said the attention could turn ugly.

He recalled being targeted in public by people who threw things at him, tipped drinks over him and spat on him.

'Every time I'd leave the house, people would, like, throw stuff at me, try and bash me up, hit me,' he said.

Kurt believes drinking and partying became a way of coping with the hostility, as well as a source of income.

Looking back, he wishes he had known how to manage that pressure differently. 

'If I knew then what I know now, I'd say, "Go work out, go to the beach, clear your head". But when you're young, you don't always know how to deal with those things.' 

The turning point came in 2021 when Kurt said he developed pancreatitis, which he attributed to years of heavy drinking. 

Recalling the pain that accompanied his illness, he described waking up to 'the most painful thing'.

The experience prompted a break from alcohol and a major reassessment of the way he was living.

Kurt said he has since returned to occasional glasses of wine, but his reasons for drinking have changed.

He also described a recent moment before a DJ job that brought home how different his life feels now.

'I'm fully sober. And I actually feel happy. Like, I can't believe that I feel happy and I'm doing what I love.'

It was a realisation that the substances he had once associated with going out and performing were no longer something he felt he needed.

His reflections also extended to the business of influencing, which was still taking shape when he first became known.

Kurt recalled approaching agencies for help managing the interest in him, only to be told that he was neither a singer nor an actor and had no talent.

His response was simple: 'My talent is being me.'

But while he had the confidence to sell himself, understanding what his profile was worth was another matter.

Asked whether he had been ripped off during those early years, Kurt agreed, saying he had accepted whatever he was paid.

Despite his visibility, he said the designer purchases now associated with successful influencers were once beyond his reach, and he did not travel overseas until he was about 21.

Those experiences have left him feeling protective of young people entering the industry, particularly as children increasingly become part of online content.

However, Kurt made clear he does not blame his family for failing to anticipate the commercial pressures that came with his teenage fame.

He described them as supportive but unfamiliar with contracts and the business he was entering.

When he announced at 16 that he was heading to Sydney for a television appearance, their response was excitement rather than scrutiny.

'I would never blame them for that,' he said.

Kurt also addressed the enduring fascination with his appearance, saying his experience with Botox and fillers was far more limited than people assume.

He said he had the treatments at 18, during three months in 2015, and has not had either since.

However, he acknowledged trying the cosmetic procedure commonly referred to as a 'salmon sperm facial' within the past two years. 

Looking back at his old photographs, Kurt can laugh at some of his fashion choices.

But he also sees a young person working hard to make a career out of something few people understood at the time.

'I look back and think, "Yuck, what was I wearing?" But I also think I was trying so hard to be good at my job,' he said. 

Watch Kurt Coleman's full interview on Daily Mail's Entertainment YouTube channel.