technology advances: One Directioner Niall Horan's Half-Eaten Toast Sells For $100K

Friday, April 13, 2012

One Directioner Niall Horan's Half-Eaten Toast Sells For $100K

From Bieber's lovely locks to ScarJo's used tissue, MTV News looks back at the most outrageous celebrity auctions so far.
By John Mitchell

One Direction's Niall Horan
Photo: Getty Images

Wondering just how big One Direction madness has gotten? Well, a half-eaten piece of toast left by the British boy band's Niall Horan on an Australian talk show has attracted almost $100,000 in online bids.

That's Justin Bieber big, y'all!

Digital Spy reports the toast was put up for auction on eBay by the Australian broadcaster behind the morning program "Sunrise." The One Direction guys visited the show yesterday and were asked to try some traditional Down Under cuisine, including the country's famous Vegemite spread. Horan was not a big fan and did not finish his toast, so the broadcaster decided to let the leftovers benefit the Australian charity Youngcare.

Bidding opened at $0.99, though a quick succession of bids saw the price of the — we repeat — half-eaten piece of toast rise to $1,000. Within a few hours the price had risen to $15,000, which is when a serious shopper stepped into the mix, putting forth a $50,000 bid.

The same bidder continued to make outrageous offers on the toast as other astute 1D fans got in the game, first bidding $80,000, then $85,000, $90,000 and eventually $99,999. That price was matched, meaning that even if the bidder who drove the price up so high was a fraud, there is another person out there willing to pay nearly $100,000 for a piece of half-eaten toast.

Curiously, this is not the first time people have gotten all worked up on eBay over curious celeb castoffs.

In other toast-related news, during the heyday of 'NSYNC, a Z-100 DJ auctioned off a piece of French toast that Justin Timberlake took one bite of for a reported $3,154. The toast was purchased by a 19-year-old fan, who reportedly said that she would "probably freeze-dry it, then seal it ... then put it on my dresser." Yep.

Justin Bieber gave Ellen DeGeneres a lock of his hair during an appearance on her talk show last year and she decided to put the hair up for auction to benefit the Gentle Barn Foundation, a California-based animal rights organization. Bieber's luscious locks drew 98 bids and collected $40,688 for the charity. That's about the cost of tuition at Amherst College.

Though it brought in much less cash, a tissue used by Scarlett Johansson on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" still managed to bring in $5,300 for the charity, USA Harvest and online casino GoldenPalace paid $530 for, ahem, "A jar containing air exhaled by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie."

Oh, and for "one piece of gum chewed and spat out by the pop princess." The princess: Britney Spears. The year: 2004.

We call dibs on the half-drank bottle of water left by whichever Jonas Brother stops through next.

How much would you pay for Niall Horan's half-eaten toast? Let us know in the comment below!