The world’s most pierced person has turned to fortune telling – but the pandemic has negatively affected her paycheck.
Elaine Davidson, 56, who now lives in Edinburgh, had her first skin piercing in 1997 and currently holds the Guinness Book of World records for body piercings.
In January 2019 she had 11,003 body piercings and is still getting more to hold on to the record.
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Nearly every part of her body is pierced, including her forehead, chin, breasts, hands and pubic area.
And now she has also added clairvoyant, fortune teller and tarot reader to her resume.
She travels as a part of Let’s Circus where she has several sideshows and fakir stage routines using techniques such as a bed of nails, glass walking and live piercing.
When providing her fortune telling and clairvoyance services, Elaine is removed from the main audience areas, allowing her to build focus with her one-on-one client.
Elaine can also be seen on the Royal Mile near St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, where she does tarot readings, fortune telling and other spiritual crafts as well as posing for fans all year round.
But now the Brazilian-born former nurse has shared how badly the pandemic has affected her income.
The record holder has taken umbrage with the Edinburgh Film Festival, who she says has refused her license for Festival Fringe this August - despite the fact she has been a veteran performer at the Fringe for over 20 years.
“After performing so many years on the festival I never had any problems with the licence I tried always to be the best for the public,” the performer told Edinburgh Live.
"I want to be here every single day of the festival but we've been pushed out and it's not fair. How am I going to pay my bills now? Over lockdown everything stopped and we missed out on so much. This year is the first full festival since 2019 and I am gutted to be missing two weeks of it.
"The reason I'm angry is because of Covid-19 everything was behind. I'm an artist and like many other artists I need to work on the Festivals to pay all the bills and the mortgage."
Sharing on Facebook she said: "Just to let you know, the festival have refused to give me a license for the start of the festival even though I have to pay to live here and live here. I don't think it's fair. I am very angry."
According to the Edinburgh Fringe Society, they have struggled to give spaces this summer due to unprecedented demand and have tried to be as fair as possible by distributing pitches to as many performers as possible to ensure spaces are never empty.
Elaine first broke the record for most piercings in May 2000, when a Guinness World Records official examined her and found 462 piercings on her body, including 192 on her face.
She never removes the rings and studs, which she estimates to weigh approximately three kilos.
In 2009 she revealed that she doesn’t enjoy the piercing process but does it so she can hold onto her title.
“I don't enjoy getting pierced, but to break the record you have to get to a high level,” she said in February 2009, when she had 6,005 piercings.
“I wanted to break the record. My family don't even like tattoos or piercings.”
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Elaine takes her position in the Guinness Book of Records very seriously, she sees it as a responsibility as well as a dedication.
This is why she doesn’t drink, take drugs or smoke cigarettes as she wants to ensure her full concentration.
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