This funfair-prize goldfish has stunned his owner by outliving both his failed marriages combined - turning GREY in his old age and even being renamed five times. Wayne Leach won Goldie for daughter Nancy Leach, then two, during a game of hook a duck in Towyn, North Wales, in 2011 so he didn't expect the bagged-up pet to live for long.
But the 44-year-old recently realised the pet - who has 'a gammy gill and ADHD' - had been alive for longer than both his marriages lasted, with the first 'failing' after three years and the second after nine.
One of his secrets to long life may be killing off the competition, as Wayne says Goldie would 'stress out' the other fish until they all died. Nancy, now 19, can't remember life without the 12-year-old fish and Wayne says he's had five different names, though he's forgotten the others.
Wayne says his pet has a 'gammy gill' and one fin smaller than the others but the 'tough cookie' has survived two house moves and currently lives in a tank with a broken filter.
Goldie has shared his tank with three other fish but Wayne says he killed them one by one by 'stressing them out' with his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The HGV driver, who was only dating his second wife when he won the fish, admits he speaks to his pet through his tank's glass and believes he's an irreplaceable part of his life.
He posted to Facebook on Tuesday to explain Goldie's unlikely story, with one joking he's lasted longer than his ex-wives because he 'can't argue back'. Dad-of-three Wayne, from Cardiff, Wales, said: "I didn't expect him to last this long. Typically, you're lucky if a funfair fish makes it back home. We never expected 12 years.
"I've been married for 12 years altogether and I had an epiphany that my one goldfish has lasted longer than my two marriages. Goldie has lived in three properties, had five names and he was around before my son.
"He doesn't even have a filter in his tank now because it broke. It's just tap water and he gets fed every three or four days because that's all he needs. His gill on his left is wide open and one fin is smaller than the other so he didn't have the best start but he's doing something right.
"He's in a tank with no pump, on his own, not a lot of stimulation and he just keeps going. Goldie has ADHD or something, he was constantly picking on the other fish and stressed them out until they died.
"Hector the fish survived so we bought him another tank and they were side by side. Goldie would go up against Hector's tank as though he was trying to get to him. He's got serious issues.
"He's had about five names. Nancy kept renaming him. I can't remember them he's had that many."
According to Wayne's research, Goldie is 106 in human years and he says it will be a sad day when his beloved pet passes away. Wayne said: "He's a tough cookie. I'm attached to him. I speak to him and he greets me.
"He's close to the kettle so when I get up in the morning he comes to life. He's like a dog. He's after attention and fuss. I give him a little sprinkle of food and he's good as gold.
"When he passes it will be a sad day. I don't think Goldie is replaceable." Wayne's Facebook post said: "This is Goldie. He is a funfair goldfish from Towyn, North Wales. Having won him in 2011, he is now 12 years old, and it has just occurred to me that he has so far lasted as long as both of my failed marriages collectively.
"It's going to break my heart when his time is up, but he's going strong for now, even with his gammy gill and his ADHD." One commented: "That's only because he can't argue back." Another joked: "He'll outlive us all."
