TikTok star Tom Christopher has apologised after his attempt to break a world record atop Pen Y Fan in South Wales ended with rugby players hauling a bathtub down the peak.
World record attempt backfires
Tom Christopher, 25, carried the tub up 2,907ft (886-metre) Pen Y Fan, the tallest mountain in South Wales and southern Britain, for a world record attempt for the world's highest bath. He enjoyed a soak before travelling back down - but without the tub.
The TikToker has apologised following massive public backlash, which saw him slammed as "mindless" by a group of rugby players who corrected what he eventually admitted was "my mistake".
Rugby players step in
Tom left the tub up on Pen Y Fan's peak for 48 hours after the record attempt, which he claimed was "for a good cause", adding that he left the bath up there so others could enjoy a dip. The concept was not appreciated by other members of the public, especially a group of hiking rugby players from Cardiff who visited the peak 24 hours later. They decided to remove the tub themselves after assuming it had been dumped.
Tom said: "I know that night I should've taken it down and I am sorry. It was my fault and my mistake, I have definitely learnt my lesson to not do it again." He also tried to justify the move, claiming he had done the stunt "for a good cause" despite the community anger. He added: "But it was genuinely for a good cause! Even though I'm the 'bad guy' I am so happy that people are sticking up for the national parks and keeping them clean!"
Bathtub crushed by National Trust
Before Tom could remove the item himself, a "confused" local Cardiff rugby team spotted it during a volunteer day and carried it back down the peak. He has since been informed by the National Trust rangers that the bathtub has been crushed.
Cardiff Rugby Academy's social media page posted a picture of the group carrying the square tub back down, questioning: "Who would leave a bath up there?" The team said: "Fantastic day for senior academy supporting the national trust at Pen y Fan with some invaluable work experience and teamwork essential. Also the group had the pleasure of carrying a bath from the top down. Who would leave a bath up there?! #mindless."
Tom said he decided to purchase a brand new bath tub and carry it up Pen Y Fan on Thursday, July 16, after feeling inspired to claim a record for taking the world's highest bath. He said: "I just wanted to do something crazy and make a funny, cool video showing me taking a bath up Pen Y Fan whilst watching the sunset."
After filming himself maneuvering the heavy household object up the peak, Tom said he put up signs at the bottom of the mountain asking people to help him fill up the bath by bringing up bottles of river water. After posting the video online, Tom said it swiftly went viral - receiving over 200k views in just four hours.
The young creator said he was inundated with positive comments and requests from people begging him to leave the bath up the mountain for them to use too. Tom said: "My DMs were flooded - everyone wanted a photo with the bath tub! My intention wasn't to leave it up there, I really was planning on taking it back down, but the amount of people that were messaging me was insane. I received about 40 photos from strangers showing them using the bath and loving it! But it weighed a tonne and was a nightmare to take it up there - so the honest truth was I thought I'd leave it there for 48 hours and then take it back down. I should have left a note on the bath explaining that really."
The tub stunt was not roundly well received, however, with some people arguing Tom should pay a fine for fly tipping up the Welsh beauty spot. Susan Lloyd, a local who feared the tub was abandoned up there, wrote online: "Bloody fly tippers is nowhere safe."
