A Co Tyrone dad will take centre stage tonight as he aims to impress his seven children and break a Guinness World Record
38-year-old Omagh man Ryan Tracey appeared on BGT in 2017 and broke the record for balloon sculpting and told how it was a dream come true.
This time he’s back with his seven-year-old son Matthew as his assistant to reclaim his glory.
Tonight he will attempt to beat the current winner’s time sculpting five balloons whilst blindfolded.
Ryan told the Irish Mirror : “It’s going to be my second time in front of Simon Cowell, I got such a good reaction from Simon, the last time.
“He said, ‘you’re a hero and I will always remember the day I was here and you broke this record’.
“I was nervous about going in front of Simon again, I wanted to go back on to regain the record but it was a different world record, I got the sense Simon and I were in this together.
“The first time I was was on they were thinking what’s this Irish man in a jazzy suit going to do with balloons to make us interested, then ten minutes later they were on their feet clapping.”
The dad-of-seven said his main ambition is to be a good dad for his brood.
He said: “It’s a dream come true that the king of entertainment would call me a hero, because at the back of it all, all I want is to be a good father and for my kids to look up at me and say ‘my daddy’s really good at something’.
“I said at a young age, I wanted seven kids because I just like the number seven, I never thought I’d get there my eldest is 18, my youngest is four months.
“We’ve done it now so we’re happy now, my wife comes from nine and there were six of us.”
Working in the civil service as a government office for the council is the complete opposite to balloon modelling.
He quipped: “My colleagues all know I do the balloon thing and they’re really supportive but any time I see them in work they go, ‘oh who’s the other guy, have you got some sort of split personality?”
Tonight will see seven year old Matthew Ryan take to the stage and his dad said it’s a proud moment.
He said: “I get to bring my son on the biggest stage in the world and share that experience with him.
“Matthew is the reason I started balloon modelling, so this thing has come full circle.”
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