tell me it's not him...

Smurfmania has taken over a County Monaghan town as the streets were filled with people from near and afar attempting to get Castleblayney into the Guinness Book of Records.
They were hoping to beat the tally of 451 for the most Smurfs in the one place at the one time set by Warwick Student's Union in June 2007.
Held during the seventh annual Muckno Mania Festival, the event coincides with the Smurfs 50th birthday - and the blue and white colours just happen to be the same as the county's Gaelic football strip.
When I arrived in the town prior to the registration time, organisers informed me that more than 500 potential Smurfs had already registered at the reception-cum-paint stop based at the old court house.
As I watched grandmother-of-ten, Marie Murray, getting her face painted I couldn't help but inquire why on earth she wanted to take part in such an activity.
We've sold 1,200 of the white hats over the past fortnight so we're hoping that everyone that bought a hat turns up tonight
"I just wanted to support a good cause. It's a bit of fun and I've brought five of my grandchildren, my daughter and my son-in-law as well," she said, adding that she had met Smurfs from New York and a family of Smurfs from France.
Castleblayney is twinned with Nogent-sur-Vernisson, a town in central France and the Billault family-of-five made their way over to Ireland especially to take part in the record-breaking attempt.
Mum Anne-Gael arrived in Monaghan at 2am on Friday for a week-long holiday along with her husband Pascal and their three sons, 11-year-old twins Axel and Cedric, and four-year-old Elouan.
Informing me that the Smurfs were called Stoumpf in France, she said they had brought their outfits with them and that they were "looking forward" to entering the Guinness Book of Records.
Further along Main Street, Judge Erica Holmes-Attivar, from the Guinness Book of Records, was walking through the crowd ahead of the event soaking up the atmosphere.
She said would be "as strict as the guidelines say she should be" when it came to adjudicating the event.
A white Smurf hat had to be worn along with white trousers or shorts and a blue T-shirt or long-sleeved shirt.
I befriended this bearded Smurf in Castleblayney
Also, all skin on show had to be painted blue.
Looking up at the grey sky I had to ask about the rain.
What if the good people of County Monaghan and beyond queue all night to take part only for the heavens to open and wash all the paint off?
"Oh no, I hadn't thought of that tell them to get umbrellas!"
With that, I bumped into Papa Smurf, or one of the many Papa Smurfs present that made up the management committee.
In order to obtain a quote I would have to take part, said Papa Smurfs Brian and Gordon.
And so, my coat was discarded and I was handed a child's blue T-shirt aged 7-8 and a disposable white body suit the like of which I have only ever seen before on a forensic scientist.
"We've sold 1,200 of the white hats over the past fortnight so we're hoping that everyone that bought a hat turns up tonight," said Gordon.
"We've had a great response so far - even better than we imagined.
"You didn't think you were coming down here to report on this and not take part did you?," he said, before sending me on my way to join the long procession line of Smurfs.
Led by the especially assembled Smurf Samba Band, we proceeded through Main Street before arriving at the inspection point.
There were Smurfs as far as the eye could see and as I patiently waited my turn in the rain to be inspected by Erica, I was quietly confident that the record had been broken.
As I passed by the judge, a Smurf source told me that I was number 1,039 and there was still "a good hundred or so still to go through".
We patiently waited as the count continued and before long the senior Smurfs took to the stage.
There was one final condition - we had to remain in a cordoned-off area for five minutes in order to break the record.
As the minutes ticked by, the Smurf theme tune was sang by the audience eagerly awaiting the final tally.
In the end, 1,253 Smurfs made history to enter the Guinness Book of Records and as the fireworks exploded over my head I wondered just how exactly I was going to get out of the forensic suit I had been tied into.

Smurfmania has taken over a County Monaghan town as the streets were filled with people from near and afar attempting to get Castleblayney into the Guinness Book of Records.
They were hoping to beat the tally of 451 for the most Smurfs in the one place at the one time set by Warwick Student's Union in June 2007.
Held during the seventh annual Muckno Mania Festival, the event coincides with the Smurfs 50th birthday - and the blue and white colours just happen to be the same as the county's Gaelic football strip.
When I arrived in the town prior to the registration time, organisers informed me that more than 500 potential Smurfs had already registered at the reception-cum-paint stop based at the old court house.
As I watched grandmother-of-ten, Marie Murray, getting her face painted I couldn't help but inquire why on earth she wanted to take part in such an activity.
We've sold 1,200 of the white hats over the past fortnight so we're hoping that everyone that bought a hat turns up tonight
"I just wanted to support a good cause. It's a bit of fun and I've brought five of my grandchildren, my daughter and my son-in-law as well," she said, adding that she had met Smurfs from New York and a family of Smurfs from France.
Castleblayney is twinned with Nogent-sur-Vernisson, a town in central France and the Billault family-of-five made their way over to Ireland especially to take part in the record-breaking attempt.
Mum Anne-Gael arrived in Monaghan at 2am on Friday for a week-long holiday along with her husband Pascal and their three sons, 11-year-old twins Axel and Cedric, and four-year-old Elouan.
Informing me that the Smurfs were called Stoumpf in France, she said they had brought their outfits with them and that they were "looking forward" to entering the Guinness Book of Records.
Further along Main Street, Judge Erica Holmes-Attivar, from the Guinness Book of Records, was walking through the crowd ahead of the event soaking up the atmosphere.
She said would be "as strict as the guidelines say she should be" when it came to adjudicating the event.
A white Smurf hat had to be worn along with white trousers or shorts and a blue T-shirt or long-sleeved shirt.
I befriended this bearded Smurf in Castleblayney
Also, all skin on show had to be painted blue.
Looking up at the grey sky I had to ask about the rain.
What if the good people of County Monaghan and beyond queue all night to take part only for the heavens to open and wash all the paint off?
"Oh no, I hadn't thought of that tell them to get umbrellas!"
With that, I bumped into Papa Smurf, or one of the many Papa Smurfs present that made up the management committee.
In order to obtain a quote I would have to take part, said Papa Smurfs Brian and Gordon.
And so, my coat was discarded and I was handed a child's blue T-shirt aged 7-8 and a disposable white body suit the like of which I have only ever seen before on a forensic scientist.
"We've sold 1,200 of the white hats over the past fortnight so we're hoping that everyone that bought a hat turns up tonight," said Gordon.
"We've had a great response so far - even better than we imagined.
"You didn't think you were coming down here to report on this and not take part did you?," he said, before sending me on my way to join the long procession line of Smurfs.
Led by the especially assembled Smurf Samba Band, we proceeded through Main Street before arriving at the inspection point.
There were Smurfs as far as the eye could see and as I patiently waited my turn in the rain to be inspected by Erica, I was quietly confident that the record had been broken.
As I passed by the judge, a Smurf source told me that I was number 1,039 and there was still "a good hundred or so still to go through".
We patiently waited as the count continued and before long the senior Smurfs took to the stage.
There was one final condition - we had to remain in a cordoned-off area for five minutes in order to break the record.
As the minutes ticked by, the Smurf theme tune was sang by the audience eagerly awaiting the final tally.
In the end, 1,253 Smurfs made history to enter the Guinness Book of Records and as the fireworks exploded over my head I wondered just how exactly I was going to get out of the forensic suit I had been tied into.
If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris

