Las Vegas woman grows longest finger nails in the world

A Las Vegas woman who hasn't clipped her finger nails in 18 years has won the Guinness World Record for the longest nails in the world.

Chris Walton has been growing her nails for 18 years and it has finally paid off.

Guinness World Records named Ms Walton the woman with the longest fingernails, introducing "The Dutchess" and her nails at a New York City event, where Guinness spokesman Stuart Claxton called her a "unique beauty".

The 45-year-old's nails measure 10ft 2in on her left hand and 9ft 7in on her right hand. She said she does her own makeup and does household chores despite the challenges posed by her extremely long nails.

"I hate all the cleaning, but I do it. And the makeup, I only wear so much," said Ms Walton, who is a professional singer.

One daily activity that does prove difficult is getting change out of her pocket, she said.

But she uses her knuckles to text on a mobile phone.

Now that she has won the record she plans to get rid of the nails, but will have to do it slowly because "I'm so used to having nails I'd be running into walls and doors."

The previous recordholder was Lee Redmond of Salt Lake City. Ms Redmond's nails measured a total 28 feet but she lost her nails in a car crash in 2009.


/The Telegraph/