Ron Wallace's Rhode Island pumpkin breaks heaviest world record
US grower Ron Wallace has broken the heaviest pumpkin world record with a Rhode Island squash weighing more than 1,400kg, beating Hampshire's Ian Paton.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A pumpkin grown in Rhode Island by Ron Wallace has been recorded as the heaviest ever, weighing more than 1,400 kilograms. The supersized squash, described as weighing as much as a small car, a small hippo, or 22 adult males, broke a record that had been set only days earlier by Britain's Ian Paton from Hampshire.
Paton had briefly held the record. One bulletin said he grew a giant squash he thought would be a world beater, only for his achievement to be eclipsed within days by his friend and rival in America. Reports differed on Paton's exact weight: one put his pumpkin at almost 300 kilograms, or more than 200 stone, while another described his entry as weighing more than a ton. The American squash was heavier either way, at more than 1,400 kilograms.
Despite the defeat, the two growers remained close. Wallace joked to Paton: 'Sorry I couldn't let you guys keep that world record a little bit longer. Ian, you taught me too good. We're still mates, right?' Paton said the rivalry is friendly: 'We're best mates. We share seeds, and our battle is actually with mother nature. It's not actually with other growers. That's the hardest thing. So it's a friendly, we call it the friendliest sport in the world, believe it or not.'
Growing pumpkins of this size is a cross-Atlantic collaborative effort. The growers send each other seeds from the biggest examples each year. Only one pumpkin can be crowned king of them all, bringing glory to the grower. Paton congratulated Wallace: 'Well done, my brother. You're a phenomenal grower, and I look forward to beating your record next year.'
Paton tasted world victory for a few days. In pumpkin growing, weight is what counts. The record now stands with Wallace's Rhode Island pumpkin at more than 1,400 kilograms.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| A pumpkin grown in Rhode Island was reported as the heaviest ever recorded, weighing more than 1,400 kilograms. | |
| Ron Wallace broke the record set by his friend Ian Paton, whose giant squash weighed almost 300 kilograms. | |
| The previous record was set by Ian Patten of Britain, who is a friend of Ron Wallace. | |
| The pumpkin growers share seeds and describe their competition as being with nature rather than one another. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The lunchtime bulletin placed the pumpkin item after a licence fee story and treated it as a light-hearted, transatlantic rivalry. It framed the American record as an example of Americans doing things bigger, while focusing on the friendship between Ron Wallace and Hampshire's Ian Patten. It did not give a specific weight for Patten's pumpkin.
- “Sorry I couldn't let you guys keep that world record a little bit longer. Ian, you taught me too good. We're still mates, right?”
- “We're best mates. We share seeds, and our battle is actually with mother nature.”
- “At least Ian tasted sweet pumpkin world victory for a few days, and his was bigger in size in the world of pumpkin growing. It's the weight that counts.”
The evening bulletin used the pumpkin story as a closing light item and focused on how quickly a world record can be overtaken. It gave a specific weight for Ian Paton's pumpkin, saying it was almost 300 kilograms and more than 200 stone, while also saying a pumpkin over a ton was not enough. It repeated the same correspondent package on the friendship and seed-sharing.
- “Ian Paton from Hampshire grew a giant squash he thought would be a world beater.”
- “It weighed in at almost 300 kilograms. That's more than 200 stone.”
- “But his achievement was eclipsed within days by his friend and rival in America.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.