The man who has the most flesh tunnels in his face shared some wise words about being true to yourself no matter what other people think.

James Goss (UK) holds the record for most face flesh tunnels with 17.

He has them in his lips, nose and cheeks, and says they make him who he is.

And while he may sometimes get curious looks from passers-by, James says he’s come to realize that his own opinion is what matters most.

When he popped into our London HQ to update his record, the 27-year-old shared some very wise words with us.

He said: “I used to feel that quite a lot of people were very judgemental towards me based on the way I look, and I do still feel that to an extent.

“But I feel like a lot of that was more down to my own mental health and the sort of relationship I had with myself and how that affected the way I interpreted other people’s behaviour towards me.

“Because I assumed people would be judgemental towards me then it was kind of… if you’re looking for something then you’re going to see it more.”

Thankfully, that’s no longer something James has to deal with on a daily basis.

He added: “Everybody who I stop and talk to for any reason seems to treat me just as they would anybody else.

“Something quite important that I’ve learned recently is that it makes a lot more sense to get your self-esteem from an internal locus of evaluation instead of how other people interpret you because at the end of the day, the most important thing is the relationship you have with yourself.

“For me, expressing myself regardless of what other people think has made me feel a lot more fulfilled, I don’t want to change myself to fit in with other people, it’s better to just be myself and spend my energy finding where I fit in anyway.”

This is the third time James has been awarded the record.

It was originally held by Joel Miggler (Germany) in 2014, when he had his 11 face flesh tunnels verified.

James broke that record in 2020 with 14, again in 2022 with 15, and once more this year when he added two more in his nose.

To qualify for the record, each flesh tunnel must have a minimum diameter of 3 mm (0.11 in), and measurements by an official Adjudicator confirmed James’ new additions met the criteria.

It was Joel who originally inspired James to alter his appearance.

“So initially it was when I saw his interview because I absolutely fell in love with his look and I wanted to do something similar,” James confessed.

While he says that some people do get “freaked out” by his flesh tunnels, he’s more interested in the opinions of his mum – the only one that matters other than his own – who told him she was “proud” when he was first verified as the record holder.

He takes a lot of pride in his flesh tunnels and hand picks his jewellery from designers Manufactum Jewelry, which you can find here and here, and Archaic Visions, which you can find here and here.

James said: “I mean it does feel pretty cool to be a record holder it’s definitely a talking point, I’ve put it on my CV as well.

“The best thing was that my mum said that she was really proud of me after I got verified the first time, so that felt very good.

“I hope to see every record get broken again, for the same reason, it’s exciting to see things progress and pushed further and further.”