After overcoming obesity and cancer, becoming a bodybuilder and professional chef, and then becoming a viral sensation on TikTok, Wallace Wong (Canada) can now add another impressive accolade to his résumé – a Guinness World Records title.
Wallace, also known as the “Six Pack Chef”, gained over 1.8 million followers on TikTok by showing off his incredible chopping skills (and his washboard abs), so he decided to test himself by attempting to a set a record for the most slices of cucumbers sliced while blindfolded in 30 seconds.
Even for a skilled professional like Wallace, this challenge poses big risks – one mistimed slice can easily result in the loss of a fingertip.
And Wallace is not immune to making mistakes, as evidenced by the plaster he was wearing on his left middle finger, where he’d previously cut himself.
His record attempt took place in Milan, on the set of our televised talent show Lo Show dei Record, so Wallace had the added pressure of performing in front of a huge crowd.
This was a new record title, meaning there was no previous holder, however, Wallace was required to achieve a minimum of 100 slices – over three per second – to be awarded it.
With his blindfold in place, Wallace began at an astonishing speed, chopping the vertically halved cucumber into extremely thin slices while expertly avoiding his finger.
Staying as cool as a cucumber, Wallace maintained his remarkable pace as the 30 seconds drew to a close.
In total, he managed to cut 166 slices – that’s over five and a half per second!
As the Italian audience applauded, Wallace was promptly awarded his Guinness World Records certificate by Official Adjudicator Sofia Greenacre.
This was not Wallace’s first TV appearance – he has previously appeared on reality food competition shows such as Fridge Wars, Top Chef Canada, and Chopped Canada.
Despite being an acclaimed chef, having worked at top restaurants such as NOMA in Denmark and Alinea in Chicago, Wallace has not always had the healthiest relationship with food – he was clinically obese at just six years old.
However, with the goal of playing for his school’s basketball team, he began losing weight when he was around 13. Setting goals and working hard to achieve them would become a common theme in Wallace’s life.
One of the other hardships which moulded and inspired Wallace was being diagnosed with cancer – non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in his eye – at age 17.
“I went straight into a whole six-month blast of chemotherapy and radiation. It also involved spinal cord chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant,” Wallace explained.
Fortunately, the treatment was successful, and Wallace has now been in remission for 16 years.
“I always say that cancer has been the best thing that ever happened to me,” Wallace revealed.
“When you’ve experienced the thought and feeling of not having a tomorrow, you change your whole mindset.
“You’re a little more patient; you also look at things in a different perspective: it’s always glass half full, not glass half empty.”
With a new lease on life, Wallace promised himself that he’d live it to the fullest and reach his true potential in anything he did.
Armed with this mentality, he began bodybuilding two years after graduating university, and he was immediately hooked.
Regardless of whether he won or lost contests, Wallace loved training for them, and he enjoyed the competitive aspect. “I was in the best shape of my life,” he said.
This competitive attitude is what has brought Wallace success in the TV shows he’s been a part of, in addition to the world record he’s now set.
And he has no plans of stopping here – Wallace has his sights set on earning many more records.
He plans to break the record for the most slices of carrots sliced while blindfolded in 30 seconds, which is currently held by Hirouyki Terada (Japan) with a total of 88.
And as if that’s not dangerous enough, Wallace wants to set some records involving his knife or hands (or both) being on fire.
I would love to break and set as many records as I can! – Wallace “Six Pack Chef” Wong
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