This first paragraph is for anyone who has never heard of the show Britain’s Got Talent. Basically, it is a huge scale talent competition where people from across England and Scotland attempt to win the chance to be part of the Royal Variety Performance, a show that takes place each year for the Royal Family, and who ever else gets invited. The Performance consists of many different acts, includes celebrities, and for the past several years the winner of Britain’s Got Talent. In the first stages of BGT, the competitors have to sway a panel of judges to put them through to subsequent rounds, these judges include infamous a-hole, Simon Cowell (who I actually think is delightful). Past winners have included Paul Potts, an opera singer; George Sampson, a 14 year old street dancer; and last year’s runner-up Susan Boyle, who needs no explanation, I’m sure. Ok, now that you’re all caught up, this is what happened on Saturday.

While watching Britain’s Got Talent on Saturday (May 9, 2010), a man named James Boyd walked onto the stage with a plan to break the Guinness World Record for most After Eight mints eaten in 1 minute. The current world record is 8 mints. Last year, Boyd came on the show and attempted to break the record for most Ferrero Rocher’s eaten in 1 minute (current record being 7) – he only managed to eat 4 and Simon Cowell keenly pointed out, among other things, that this was not the kind of thing you present to the Queen. But this year, Boyd was determined to prove Simon and the other judges wrong. He was going to break the After Eights record; a record that prohibits the use of hands – an added challenge for Boyd. Well, Boyd laid out his mints on the table, Simon started the timer, and Boyd began to eat. Unfortunately for Boyd, he only prepared 5 mints, so he disqualified himself from the record when he used his hands to get out the next 4 mints. He also ran out of time and ended the challenge having only finished 5 After Eights. Of course, he was sent away a non-winner (some may say loser), only to be confronted by the host of show, who had attempted the challenge backstage and tied the World Record by eating 8. All in all, not a good day for Boyd.

Well, obviously, we in ManHouse watched this hilarious misfortune and thought, like most of Britain, I can do that! And so, Dan went out this weekend and purchased a box of After Eight mints and tonight he attempted to break the Guinness World Record.