Diags on rollercoaster and at certificate presentation

Popular UK TV personality James Bennewith, more commonly known by his nickname 'Diags', has just broken a record that has stood for nine years!

The The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) star achieved the record for the most capital cities named on a rollercoaster in one minute whilst on a visit to Thorpe Park in Surrey, listing an impressive total of 38, surpassing the previous record by 11. 

He carried out the attempt on the ten-loop rollercoaster, Colossus and due to social distancing requirements, used an ear piece to communicate with his cast mate, Dan, on the ground who read out the randomised list of countries while Diags reeled off the capital cities. 

Diags-upside-down-on-rollercoaster

Guinness World Records Adjudicator, Jack Brockbank, was there on the day to oversee the attempt- however the result was kept a strict secret from Diags.

Claiming a Guinness World Records title had been on Diags’ bucket list for a while and it wasn’t until his 30th Birthday celebrations, which will air during tonight’s episode of TOWIE, that the news was finally revealed to him when official Adjudicator, Jack, paid a surprise visit to his party. 

"I am so excited to now hold a Guinness World Records title for naming the most capital cities whilst on a rollercoaster in one minute. As everyone has seen on TOWIE, I’ve made quite a few attempts and it feels great to have finally achieved it, especially just before I turned 30. Growing up I had a copy of the GWR book every year, and just can't believe that I now could  be in it!"

Diags-Dan-adjudicator-in-thorpe-park

The record was previously held by Artjom Pusch (Germany), who correctly named 27 capital cities whilst on a rollercoaster at Europa Park in Germany, back in July 2012.

TOWIE currently airs on Sundays at 9pm on ITVbe.