The world’s most obscure faces were pulled in Cumbria this weekend as part of the 2024 World Gurning Championships.
Dozens of hopefuls descended on Egremont to take part in the whacky event, which is a part of the town’s Crab Fair, have first been established in 1267.
Competitors must wear a large horse collar at the same time as gurning – but the rules are generally accepted to stop there.
Their face contortion efforts are then scored by a panel of five judges, who are looking for ‘the biggest transformation in face’.
In the men’s category, rubber-faced Tommy Mattinson won the World Gurning Championships for a record 19th time – and vowed: ‘I want to win 30.’
In the men’s category, rubber-faced Tommy Mattinson (pictured) won the World Gurning Championships for a record 19th time
Dozens of hopefuls descended on Egremont to take part in the whacky event (pictured: Ding Dong Veg, 64, from Bath, competed in the World Gurning Championships 2024)
Competitors must wear a large horse collar at the same time as gurning – but the rules are generally accepted to stop there (pictured: Alan Haley, 75, from Cumbria)
Indie Irwin, 12, grandaughter of the 19 time World Gurning champion Tommy Mattinso
Tommy, 52, beat off stiff competition to take home the crown in the men’s category, while Claire Lister, 37, won the woman’s category for an eighth consecutive time.
Claire’s daughter Kendal was named champion in the junior category of the bizarre competition.
A typical gurn involves pushing the lower jaw as far forward and up as possible, and covering the upper lip with the lower lip.
Judges crown the winning contestant based on whoever displays the starkest transformation between their normal face and their gurning face.
Tommy, who’s dad was a gurning champion, said: ‘It’s amazing, I’m so pleased to win it again. I didn’t expect, I never do, but there was some stiff opposition tonight.
‘When I pull my face, I go into my zone and I don’t hear the crowd and I don’t feel anything.
‘I’ll be coming back. I want 30. I think if you’re a champion, you should come back and defend it. As long as I’m alive and kicking, I’ll come back and support it.
‘People think ‘oh have you not won it enough?’ but I love winning, I like it.
‘I do a lot of tv and I meet a lot of stars, I’ve done some Saturday night tv and children’s tv and I love all that aspect of it.
‘I remember winning the juniors for the first time. I started gurning when I was a little child, trying to copy my dad, who was a world champion.
‘My mum said I was always I was pulling faces as a kid.’
The Crab Fair, which also sees wheelbarrow races and horn-blowing competitions, is thought to date all the way back to 1267 – when crab apples were given to the townsfolk by the Lord of the Manor.
Hometown hero Claire Lister, who has won the women’s competition for the eighth time in a row, said: ‘I first starting gurning when I was a junior, I would come second and third.
‘As you get older, you become a teenager and it get’s a bit embarrassing. But I entered in 2013 when I was 26 and that’s when I won first time.
‘I missed 2014 because I had a baby, but I’ve won consecutively since then.
Claire Lister (pictured), 37, won the woman’s category for an eighth consecutive time
Claire’s daughter Kendal was named champion in the junior category of the bizarre competition
‘In Lockdown, we entered a competition in Japan via Zoom and we’ve been on tv with it, it’s really good.’
Discussing the competition, chairman Callum Scott said: ‘People come from all over the country to take part.
‘I think it appeals to so many people because it’s so unique – and because of the tradition.
‘We’re one of the oldest fairs in the world and gurning is believed to have started in 1267. It’s just an iconic part of the town.’