British teen assembles Mr. Potato Head in record-breaking time
13-year-old Matilda Walden put the iconic toy together in 5.69 seconds, nabbing a Guinness World Record
Matilda Walden was looking at the list of Guinness World Records online for fun when she came across one that caught her eye — fastest time to assemble a Mr. Potato Head.
The record at the time belonged to Turkey's Samet Durmaz at 6.62 seconds, and nobody had managed to beat it for more than a decade. Even then, it was Durmaz beating his own record.
"I came across it and I'm thinking, 'Oh, that can't be too hard," the 13-year-old from Lancaster, U.K., told As It Happens guest host Gillian Findlay.
"I happened to have a Mr. Potato Head near me, so I mean, I just gave it a go — and it was quite hard."
Nevertheless, the British teen, now dead-set on becoming a world record-holder, kept at it. Now she's finally claimed the title for herself, assembling the iconic toy in 5.69 seconds.
"It was just awesome. I am a world record holder. I never could believe I would do that," Matilda said.
Watch: Matilda Walden puts together a Mr. Potato Head in record time
Matilda says she practiced for the record several times a day before she made the official attempt in front of an audience of about 10 people, including a camera crew, two time keepers and two independent witnesses.
By then, she'd already finely honed her craft, developing a technique in which she'd fasten both arms simultaneously, and do the same for the ears.
She got so good, she says, that in one of her practices, she finished the job in five seconds flat.
"But that wasn't official," she said.
Now she has her eyes set on more Guinness records.
She says she's planning to challenge the record for fastest time to assemble a Mr. Potato Head blindfolded. To do it, she'll have to beat the existing record of 14.90 seconds, held by Germany's André Ortolf in 2018.
She says she's also planning to submit an application for a whole new record — something that hasn't been attempted for Guinness before — but she wouldn't say what it is.
"That one's a secret for the moment," she said. "I don't want anybody else to break it."
Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Sarah Jackson.
