A FERMANAGH and Omagh District Council employee who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent at the weekend not only broke a Guinness World record for speed balloon modelling but got into the next round of the hit show.
Ryan Tracey, a performance improvement officer, beat the previous record of 63.6 seconds when he modelled five balloon sculptures while blindfolded as judges Simon Cowell, David Walliams, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden looked on.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Vicky joined him on stage for his audition which was filmed in Birmingham back in February.
Just before the final audition of the day Vicky explained that he had to make a snail, dog, caterpillar, sword and flower to pre approved designs otherwise he’d be disqualified.
Within his first 30 seconds he only had one model completed.
Simon shook his head and sighed: “He’s not gonna do it.”
Waving around balloon models of themselves Ant and Dec encouraged him from the side of the stage as he completed the task in just over one minute and one second.
The audience cheered and applauded and when Vicky inspected Ryan’s work, David joked: “OK, let’s not be too picky about this.” 
“This is a world record, we do have to check,” insisted the adjudicator.
“The balloons are correct and it was a valid attempt,” she confirmed.
Ant and Dec hugged Ryan as they presented him with a certificate. 
A delighted panel praised the balloon modeller and he secured a place in the next round.
This week, Ryan, who is married to Catherine and has five children; Aiofe, Rebecca, Aimee, Matthew and Jessica said he has been “overwhelmed” by the reaction, which included a congratulatory message from Council Chairperson Mary Garrity.
“The support from everyone has been brilliant,” he told The Impartial Reporter.
“To be honest, I wasn’t nervous going on that stage. I knew those 15 minutes were so important,” he said.
Reflecting on his audition, Ryan, who also runs a balloon modelling business, said he was “at the mercy of those judges.”
And now we must wait to find out what happens next.
“My fate will be decided in three weeks, but getting on the live semi finals would be absolutely life changing,” he said.