Christmas off to a bad start as Santa's beard gets tangled in ropes

An early visit from Santa Claus last Saturday went awry when jolly old St Nick got his beard caught up in ropes as he abseiled into Broad Street Mall in Reading, England. Santa, played by soldier Steve Chessell (we're very, very sorry if we just gave away that Santa isn't real), dangled by his fake beard for 40 minutes — with hundreds of children watching, it's not like he could have just ripped it off. Luckily, the event's announcer carried on magnificently, explaining that Santa wanted to stay up where he could see "who's been a good boy or a good girl." The mall's marketing manager, Stephanie Maynard, praised Chessell for keeping his beard on and not forcing parents to have any awkward conversations with their kids on the car ride home. [Source]

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