After his success, he said there wasn't really a secret to the art, adding: "The spoons just stick on and I don't really know how.

"It's something I can do easily and I know I'll make 17 one day but I'll probably have to wait until I grow a bit so there's some more space on my forehead."

Joe discovered his talent two years ago when his cousin challenged him to balance a spoon on his nose.

His mother Fenella, 42, a swimming teacher, said: "I'm really, really proud of him because he can do something that no one else in the world can do.

"Apparently it's always youngsters who beat the record because they have slightly greasier skin.

"It works even better if Joe's sweaty but I don't let him get away without washing."

Joe, who lives with his mother and father Peter in Totnes, Devon, is to appear on the TV show Britain's Got Talent - where he will hang the spoons from his face and do a jig.

The previous world record belongs to Tim Johnston, 16, who balanced 15 stainless steel spoons on his face for 30 seconds at Havens High School, Piedmont, California, on May 28, 2004.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Tim balanced "one on each ear, two on each cheek, three on his chin, two on his lips, one on his nose and three on his forehead".

A Guinness spokesman said photographs and video of Joe's record attempt would be examined before the record is made official.

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