Gone in 60 seconds... seven bananas

A CORK teenager was celebrating last night after finally succeeding in his quest to break the world record for eating the most bananas in 60 seconds.

Cork student Ronan Doyle, 19, peeled and swallowed seven whole bananas in exactly a minute on RTÉ’s The Saturday Night Show.

The RTÉ footage will now be sent to official adjudicators, who will then add his name to the prestigious Guinness Book Of Records.

Ronan said yesterday he was thrilled to have become a world-beater in front of an Irish audience, having narrowly missed out on breaking the record on his first ever attempt on Italian TV only a week earlier.

Douglas-born Ronan revealed he had perfected his banana-chomping technique — where he peels the piece of fruit in his mouth while eating it simultaneously — in the two days prior to the show.

“I felt really confident I could do it and it really helped being in front of an Irish audience. When I made the attempt on the Italian record-breaking show, the presenter kept putting his head over my shoulder and it put me off. There was also a problem with communication and at one point my earpiece fell out.

“But it couldn’t have gone better on The Saturday Night Show.

“The audience really got behind me and by the time the 60 seconds were up, I had swallowed my last banana.”

Ronan, a film studies student at UCG, also revealed he is putting together a movie, which will chronicle his preparations and the moment he broke the world record, which he hopes to show at the Corona Cork Film Festival in Cork this summer.

He added: “It’s been a great adventure. It all started out as a bit of a laugh a few years ago when I spotted the record for eating the most bananas in a minute was just two. I applied to have a go, then forgot all about it until last month when I was contacted by Italian TV. I missed out there by just two seconds, but equalled the world record with six bananas, but that wasn’t enough to get my name in the Guinness Book of Records. So this was my last chance and it was make or break for me.

“I’d decided before going on that if I failed to break the record this time, that would be it.

“But I’m thrilled to have done it and can’t quite believe my name’s going to be in The Guinness Book Of Records.”

He added: “One thing’s for certain. I won’t be touching another banana for a long time.”