Battle Creek native, Dante Barnes, can expand his tongue to be the size of a ping pong ball on demand, and is now known for having the largest tongue circumference in the world.
According to Guinness World Records, Barnes' tongue has a circumference of 4.8 inches. He started posting tongue videos in 2021, and has since garnered millions of views on social media. Although it's all fun and games to hold a record, this could be a rare medical condition.
“I have not had an actual medical person tell me what it is that I can do or what it’s called but I have had people make videos about my tongue and they say it’s called Macroglossia.”
Barnes told Guinness World Records that he is not concerned and is in total control of the circumference of his tongue.
“I just kind of have fun with it. I have fun with people, entertain people, and I can just shrink it back down to a normal tongue whenever I want to do normal things.”
Guinness World Records noted that the tongue is one of the strongest muscles in the human body, and flexing it over and over could have repercussions.
“It only hurts after a certain amount of time, like any other muscle would just lifting weights,” Barnes shared.
His girlfriend thinks that it is absolutely disgusting, but Barnes is over the moon with his record holding status.
“I definitely see my tongue as a gift. I never thought I would have a Guinness World Records title at all, let alone for my tongue.”