In front of 30,000 screaming Australian fans on Monday night, British pop star Harry Styles raised a sweaty sneaker full of water to his lips and drank.
"This is one of the most disgusting traditions I've ever heard of," he told the Perth stadium, grimacing before downing the drink to deafening chants of 'shoey, shoey, shoey'.
Post-swallow, Styles told the raucous crowd he felt "like a different person".
"I feel ashamed of myself," he said, shaking his head. "I'll be discussing this with my therapist at length. At length!"
Styles is just the latest international star to be subjected to the questionable Australian trend that is the shoey: drinking a beverage, usually alcoholic, from a shoe.
F1 driver Sir Lewis Hamilton, actor Sir Patrick Stewart and a slew of musicians - including rapper Post Malone, Machine Gun Kelly and country singer Kasey Musgraves - have partaken while visiting the country, usually at the insistence of Aussie supporters.
But the trend is divisive. Many Australians say it is tired, gross and "blokey"; an embarrassing thing for the country to be known for.
Others say it's a harmless bit of fun rooted in Australian culture - which values self-deprecating humour and a sense of egalitarianism. ufabe