Ged Eccles Won His First World Gurning Title Through a Horse Collar After Three Previous Podium Finishes at Egremont
Claire Lister won back the women's crown she lost in 2025, while actor Will Mellor finished second in the men's contest while filming a new series.
Ged Eccles won the men's World Gurning Championship for the first time at the Egremont Crab Fair in Cumbria on the evening of 19 September 2026, pulling the ugliest face he could through a horse collar known as a braffin.
Victory ended a long wait for Eccles, who had finished second in 2023 and third in both 2016 and 2009. Local news site Cumbria Crack reported the result on 20 September.
The women's title went back to Claire Lister, who had been beaten by Lynn Kelly in 2025. The women's category was formally introduced in 1978. The biggest surprise of the night came in the men's contest, where actor Will Mellor, who admitted he knew little about gurning, finished second. Mellor and fellow actor Ralf Little were in West Cumbria with a film crew for a new series and took part in fair activities throughout the weekend.
The championship followed junior heats and a junior final, and the evening programme also included horn blowing, hunting songs, comic songs and a Crab Fair cake raffle before the main event.
High winds forced fair stalls to move from Main Street to the Cons Club for the weekend. The fair continued on 20 September with a greasy pole competition, races, vintage vehicles, boundary riding and the traditional apple cart driving down the street throwing crab apples to the crowd.