Mehmet Özyürek’s record-breaking feature is quite clear to see.

The Turk has held the record for the longest nose on a living person (male) for over two decades.

He first had his nose measured on 31 January 2001 for Guinness World Records: Primetime, Los Angeles, USA.

The measurement, which took place in his hometown of Artvin, Turkey, was 8.8 cm (3.46 in) long from the bridge to the tip.

Mehmet’s supersized-sniffer debunks the common myth that your nose and ears continue to grow as you get older.

Further measurements of his nose in 2010 and 2021 showed that his nose had, in fact, not grown at all, still measuring exactly 8.8 cm (3.46 in) – or the length of an playing card.

But what is it like to have the world’s longest nose?

“My sense of smell is different from other people,” Mehmet says.

“I say ‘there is a smell here’. Other people say ‘we don’t smell that smell’. I say, ‘you may not smell it but I can’.”

“For example, I enter my house… I can immediately tell which dish is cooked.”

However that’s not all Mehmet can do with his nose!

On his 2010 appearance on the Italian TV show Lo Show Dei Record, he showed the crowd how he can inflate a balloon using his nostril!

Large noses run in Mehmet’s family, but the reason behind their distinctive feature in still unknown.

“I have such a special feature.”

“I love it, this feature. The world likes it, Guinness World Records likes it, of course, my wife likes it too!” – Mehmet Özyürek

“It’s a genetic condition as far as I understand. There was no explanation by doctors, but I have it in my family, so my father has it, my uncles have it, I have it.”

However, strangely, is hasn’t cropped up in the generations after Mehmet.

When Mehmet was younger, he did experience unkind comments from his peers.

“My friends used to call me Big Nose to upset me.”

“But I took a look at myself. That’s when I looked in the mirror – I discovered myself.

“God made me like this, there is nothing that can be done in this situation. I learned to live in peace with my physique.”

Mehmet is happy with his nose now, but he still does attract a lot of attention when he’s out and about.

“When I enter a social situation Immediately draw attention. Everyone looks at me. They examine me. I know what they’re thinking when they look at me.”

Despite everything, Mehmet has immense pride in his record-breaking attribute.

“I love my nose of course…I have been blessed.”

“I am extremely pleased to represent Turkey, the Black Sea or Artvin on an international scale.

“Some become martyrs, some become Prime Ministers and some become record holders.”

Allegedly, the longest nose ever belonged to Thomas Wedders, who lived in England during the 1770’s.

There are historical accounts that state Wedders, who was a member of a travelling circus, had a nose that measured an incredible 19 cm (7.5 in) long.