A massive Kiwi potato that is in the running to claim a world record has gone viral after the man who found it gave a hilarious interview to British TV.
Waikato man Colin Craig-Brown spoke to former NZ broadcaster Philip Schofield on his popular This Morning breakfast show about the trials and tribulations of securing official recognition for his giant potato.
Craig-Brown unearthed the massive spud, who he has named Doug, in his garden last year and is currently trying to secure the stamp of approval from the Guinness Book of World Records.
"We're accidental champions," Craig-Brown told Schofield and co-host Rochelle Humes about how he and wife Donna came to be in possession of such a tremendous tuber.
"Didn't grow it on purpose, caught us both totally unaware. We were just doing some weeding.
"At first I thought it may have been a white sweet potato we'd grown, then I'd decided it was too big. I said 'We have to get it out of the ground'. And like an angry Viking I thrust a fork into the ground and got me a mighty potato."
The hosts were left in stitches by Aussie-born Craig-Brown's laconic delivery.
"Yeah, nah, we just looked at it and said 'What are we gonna do?'"
He told them that Doug faced a barrage of tests before he could go official, including having a section cut off and sent away for genetic testing.
"See this part here, that's the bit that got chopped off," Craig-Brown said.
"It's going to be sent down to Christchurch and as far as I know it'll have the DNA analysis there and it's somehow going to get sent to Scotland."
Rochelle Humes said that Doug looked a "little mouldy" but was told: "He suffered the ravages of time, I just bunged him in the freezer."
Come and have a peel if you think you're hard enough. Photo / AP
Craig-Brown's laidback demeanour won fans in the UK. with one saying "Colin is someone I'd wanna be friends with" and others calling him "brilliant" and "a legend".
Doug is quite possibly the largest potato on record, originally weighing in at a remarkable 7.9kg. That's equal to a couple of sacks of regular potatoes, or one small dog.
In the weeks after their unusual find on August 30, Doug became something of a celebrity around their small farm near Hamilton, with Craig-Brown even building a small cart to tow him around.
"We put a hat on him. We put him on Facebook, taking him for a walk, giving him some sunshine," Craig-Brown said. "It's all a bit of fun. It's amazing what entertains people."
Doug even had his own transport made for him. Photo / AP
A more official weigh-in at a local farming store put Doug at 7.8 kg. The Guinness World Records current entry for the heaviest potato is a 2011 monster from Britain that weighed in at just under 5 kg.
Craig-Brown said he doesn't have any secret gardening tips. Usually they throw a bunch of cow manure and straw onto their garden and see what happens. He said they'd been growing cucumbers in that area of their garden before the weeds took over and hadn't planted any potatoes. Doug must have been self-sown, and quite possibly growing for a couple of years or more.
"It's a mystery to me," Craig-Brown said. "It's one of nature's little pleasant surprises."
But Doug hasn't proved an easy charge to look after. As the couple showed the potato off, it began drying out and losing weight. Mould started growing from its wounds.
"He was getting a bit pongy," said Craig-Brown, referring to the potato's smell.
So he cleaned up Doug as best he could and put the potato in the freezer, where it remains.
But Craig-Brown may not be done with Doug yet. An amateur brewer, Craig-Brown said he's keen to turn Doug into a nice drop of potato vodka.
