LONDON – A record-breaking knife thrower shocked Britons last Thursday when one of his daggers sliced into the head of his assistant on live TV. Circus performer Jayde Hanson, 23, was demonstrating his skills when one of his knives hit his assistant and girlfriend, 22-year-old Yana Rodianova. As she clutched the side of her head, horrified presenter Fern Britton shouted: „Oh my God, there is blood, quick — get her off.“ A spokeswoman for ITV‘s „This Morning,“ one of the country‘s most popular daytime programmes, said the wound was only „a nick“.“She‘s absolutely fine and recovering well,“ the spokeswoman said, before adding ruefully: „You don‘t really expect that kind of thing from a world record-holder.“

Over one million viewers had been watching as Hanson, who works for the British-based Cottle and Austen Circus, showed off how many knives he could hurl at Yana in 60 seconds. Perhaps not surprisingly, Hanson, whose father was an elephant tamer and mother a trapeze artist, is currently having to advertise for a new assistant as Yana, who bears two scars from previously mis-directed knives, wants to concentrate on her hula-hoop act. Reuters