Elaine Davidson is a Brazilian-Scottish former nurse, based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

who ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' has certified as the "Most Pierced Woman".

Guinness World Records

When examined by a Guinness World Record official in May 2000, Davidson had 462 piercings, with 192 in her face alone. By 9 August 2001 when she was re-examined she was found to have 720 piercings. Performing at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

in 2005, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that she now had 3,950 body piercings. As of 2003, she had more piercings in her

genitalia A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

than in any other part of the body – 500 in all, externally and internally. Because of her dedication to the art form, Guinness World Records recognised her with a lifetime record of 4225 piercings for the title of "Most Piercings in a lifetime (female)." The total weight of her internal piercings is estimated to be about 3 kilograms. As of February 2009 her piercings totaled 6,005. In a 2023 interview on ITV's This Morning with

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot O'Leary (born 24 May 1973) is a British-Irish broadcaster. He presented the television talent show ''The X Factor'' on ITV from 2007 until its final series in 2018, with the exception of 2015. Since 2021, O'Leary has presented ITV' ...

and Alison Hammond, Davidson shared her goal to one day reach 20,000 piercings in total. Davidson was also featured in 'Guinness World Records: The Board Game.'

Divination

Since the late 1990s, Elaine has been engaged in the practice of

divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...

and

clairvoyance Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to h ...

. She is available for hire for private tarot card readings, crystal ball readings,

palmistry Palmistry is the pseudoscientific practice of fortune-telling through the study of the palm. Also known as palm reading, chiromancy, chirology or cheirology, the practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations. Those w ...

, rune stone readings and the study of patterns found in tea leaves, a practice known as '

tasseography Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy, tassology, or tasseology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments. The terms derive from the French word ''tasse'' (cup), whic ...

Books

Davidson has appeared in several

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

books including; 2003, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022 and 'The Stories Behind The Records: Amazing Body Records'. She was also featured in the 2005 'Planet Eccentric' and 2015 'Impossibly Amazing' Ripley’s Believe It or Not! books. In 2024 she teamed up with Johnny Strange to release an official biography, the book is titled 'Elaine Davidson: Holier Than Thou' and talks all about her life and career as a performer.

TV shows

Davidson has featured in many documentaries and TV shows such as

, Lo Show Dei Record, MTV’s Senseless, Ripley’s believe It or Not!
PIERCED
an
National Geographic’s Taboo
She has also featured on many videos by YouTube personalities such as The Sidemen, That’s Interesting and

The Young Turks ''The Young Turks'' (''TYT'') is an American progressive and left-wing populist sociopolitical news and commentary program live streamed on social media platforms YouTube and Twitch, and additionally selected television channels. ''TYT'' se ...

References

External links