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For 10 nerve-wracking seconds he held his breath, hoping all the sweets he'd painstakingly inserted wouldn't fall.
Luck was on American Joel Strasser's side, allowing him to claim his 15th title in the Guinness Book of World Records by holding 187 candy canes in his beard.
“This one I've had on my radar for a while, but I wanted to wait until the right moment, this Christmas season," Joel (43) told Guinness World Records. “And it feels awesome to know I'm the best in the world at holding candy canes in my beard.”
Joel has always had a beard, but only started letting it grow long in 2018 and it's now at an impressive 36cm.
He made headlines that year for the first time when he won his first Guinness World Record after successfully putting 3 500 toothpicks in his beard.
Since then he has earned 14 more titles by putting an array of items in his beard, from chopsticks to forks and last year bauble ornaments.
This year he decided to use candy canes because they symbolise Christmas, which is his favourite time of the year.
It took a lot of practice to develop the strategies that would ensure the candy canes would stay in place.
“I did try the candy canes without the plastic wrappers at first. It was a sticky disaster and they snapped way too easily and fell out, so I opted to keep the wrappers on, he tells YOU.
He managed to get 187 candy canes in, but he wishes he could’ve managed more.
“I had about 215 candy canes in at one point and I should have stopped, but I kept going and a bunch fell out”, Joel, who was the runner-up in The Amazing Race’s 35th season.
“I put some of them back in but my structure was falling apart so I settled for the 187 before I lost more.”
His record pursuits have taken a heavy toll on his beard.
He says when he puts a lot of objects in, it creates strain causing bits of facial hair to be yanked out.
“These records are like abuse to my beard,” Joel says.
He maintains his beard by washing it with beard shampoo and moisturising it daily with beard oil and balm.
Although his wife, Lila, is his biggest supporter she would like him to trim his beard so it's not so long.
But Joel doesn't sound keen to have a shave.
"I will keep breaking records,” he says.
- Most forks in a beard: 126
- Most pegs: 359
- Most pencils put in a beard in one minute: 59
- Most pencils in beard overall: 456
- Most straws: 534
- Most pipe cleaners: 1 150
- Most cotton buds: 2 470
- Most chopsticks in one minute: 86
- Most chopsticks overall: 520
- Most golf tees: 607
- Most Christmas decorations: 710
EXTRA SOURCES: NYPOST.COM, GUINNESSWORLDRECORDS.COM
