VIDEO: Blackpool Pleasure Beach strongman smashes world record for bending steel nails

Steve Stevens, who is known by his stage name Titan, bent 25 steel nails in half in 60 seconds at the Pleasure Beach’s Globe Theatre on Tuesday, beating the previous record of 11.

He said: “This means a lot to me because when I first learned how to steel bend I was very excited and showed my mum and dad. My dad said it would be useful for hanging up pictures and we had a bit of a chuckle about it.”

Tragically, Steve’s dad Paul died in a motorcycle accident in July, aged 57.

“Now whenever I do steel bending I think of him. This record was for him,” Steve said.

Steve, 30, has been a professional strongman for six years, but only took up steel-bending one year ago.

He said he felt an instant attraction to the skill, which dates back to the circus tents of the 1800s. He trained for three weeks, bending nails, ripping decks of cards apart, and crushing cans of pop.

“After the first 15 nails, that’s when the forearms started to cramp,” he said. “I got very sharp shooting pain in my hands because you’re trying to drive several hundred pounds of pressure to bend it all in one go.

“It was difficult towards the end. My hands started feeling like when you sleep on them. All the pressure was building up. You’re stood in a T-Rex stance, so there’s no flexibility, repeating the same motion over and over.”

The world record attempt marked the opening of the Halloween-themed Circus of Horrors at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, in which Steve demonstrates his steel-bending skills. The show will run until October 31.