The Fifth Hour: Joey Chestnut, the World's Greatest Eater!

are in for a special treat. Someone that I have been hoping to chat with. I have said I need to talk to this person, and Danny G has been able to make this happen. He has booked a person. We're about to talk to, one of the greats. And you talk about greats, you talk about Leggis, and that gets tossed around a lot in what we do. But this is a bona fide signified, a living icon in the world of sports. Do you think of the the all time greats? I don't do Mount Rushmore's, I don't

do that kind of stuff. But Tom Brady, Michael Jordan's babe Ruth, Wayne Gretzky, Joey Chestnutt, Mainbane. That's right, Joey chestnut the greatest eater in the history of the recorded world, and the hot dog eating contest. The Nathan's hot Dog Eating Contest is coming up on the fourth of July. So I said, well, this is the perfect time we need to talk to Joey. Just not the Bay Area legend, the man that went to San Jose states. We must talk to him. I like the extended winner. How dare

you to set this up? If you're not a fan of competitive meeting, Joey Chestnutt is like Secretariat compared to all of the other competitive eaters, He's light years ahead of everyone. He has world records for all kinds of things, and the hot dog records the most famous. This is the Super Bowl my man, Joey Chestnut eight seventy four Nathan's famous hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. He set that world record back in But it's not just hot dogs. This is what this guy does, this is

his life. He ate fifteen sixteen ounce bowls of gumbo. He has the world record for gumbo in eight minutes. Uh. He he ate thirty six ounds tacos, fish tacos, he has that record. How about hard boiled eggs in eight minutes? Joey Chestnut, the man, We're about to talk to a one hundred and forty one hard boiled eggs. It's insane, Holy CANNOLLI. Uh so there is no debate that Joey

Chestnut is the all time greatest eater. Come on in man joining us here on the fifth hour with Ben Maller and Danny g. Joey, thank you for doing this. I know you're training and you don't like to do a lot of these things before the Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, But can you paint the picture for us? What is practice like for the hot dog contest over the years has changed a little bit. When I was younger, I could practice like every third day. Now it's now every

sixth day, and full on practices are. They're hard on the body. It takes wild to recover. The practices are are pretty much a simulated contest. I'm eating, oh my god, seventy plus hot dogs towards towards the last few practices, and then then it takes time to recover and then preparation for my next practice and right now to two days of fastening pretty much to cleanse so joey, like

when you're before. I had seen stories where you had been quotas in like you did a lot of like stretching your stomach out with like water and things like that, but you actually eat seventy five hot dogs or so before. Yeah, So there's there's water training in the mornings all every morning. I'll wake up. First thing I do is I drink a gallon of water and then I count how many gulfs and it takes you do that. I'll drink a little bit of milk, and there's just there's there's tricks

to keep the stomach stretched and loose. Even even if I'm not taking a ton of calories. At least once a week, I have to do an actual eating eating practice that it's uh runners, after run, I have to eat. So who cooks the hot dogs for you? You have like a team of people that make them. You have to make them yourself. Like, how's that process work? I was awesome to fiance and she's she can cook hot dogs, dude, she almost Sometimes she makes them too tasty. It's it's

the trouble. So I have to make sure she had has to undercook. I'm a little bit because sometimes on the Fourth of July, Uh, if it's super hot, the hot dogs get undercooked a little bit, and uh sorry, I have to make sure that I'm not making them too good. So when do you like get to New York for the Are you there? Now? Do you go in last minute? Like, yeah, yeah, you're there, I'm already in New York. It helps me stay focused, uh while while while I'm prepping and and doing my last last

Uh yeah, just just keep getting ready for this event. Yeah, So would you compare yourself? Like, I'm fascinated by this year. I'm excited to talk to you because I've followed the competitive eating for a long time and I remember the days before you showed up on the scene and uh and since you've been there, you're just dominated. But you're so you'd say you're kind of like a boxer. Would

that be an accurate portrayal? Like a boxer before fight you kind of spend a month getting ready or but you do this year round, so you're always kind of enstraaining, right. You do events throughout the year. It's not just the hot dog contest. You're doing stuff all the time, right, Yeah, you're kind of right. Um, it's kind of both was Uh. For this contest, it's definitely more like a boxer marathon runner. I'm trying to get my body, every everything in tune

for for that for that tenaminent contest or that event. Uh, And I'm trying to peak make sure my capacity is perfect. And then there's other contests throughout the year, smaller ones that I'm not going to practice for nearly as much, but i still want to do my best. But by by far, this this is the biggest contest of the year, and I'm I'm I'm putting all going all in on this one. So you've dominated over the years. You are the gold standing, not even close with this hot dog

eating coust and the Anthans Hot Dog Eeting contest. Do you ever get nervous anymore? You've done so many of these things and you're just like the back of your hand at this point. Or do you still get a little nervous for something like this. I definitely get nervous. Uh. Yeah, I'm a shy guy naturally, but uh, I get I get gumped up getting on stage in front of I think there's like twenty five thousand people they're watching. Dude,

it's awesome. I'm nervous and I'm just adrenaline is pumping and I can do feel like I can do, uh, whatever I need to do, I'm willing to do it. So you're like, I'm an introvert. I do a radio show, right, I have a radio show some pretty well. But when I'm not doing that, I'm kind of like, you know, I keep to myself. And are you that kind of you? You're like me just to kind of keep to yourself, don't. You're not an out there Yeah, I'm not. I'm not super outgoing. Uh, and I'm not my mom. I was

seeking attention outside. Uh, it's just I'm really laid back. But this one setting, I don't have a choice. I gotta go out there and uh the phone, you're in the Goldilocks zone with all the food. Right. I love the story too. Right. I was reading your and I heard this a while ago. Your brother kind of dragged you into this, right, You did not anticipate in this

life that you have created that it wasn't right, That's exactly. Yeah, it wasn't my idea at all once, but uh yeah, like I was, I was kind of ashamed how much I could eat fairly growing up, But I was like, oh, I was always like I'm not not ashamed as much as I was just like self conscious that I was like, all right, I don't don't want to go wild, make it, make a fool of myself, embarrass myself. But as soon as I got on stage that first time, it was like it was it was like I found true love.

And uh, it was like I was like I was bade for this and I don't have to hold back. Yeah, I can push it to the limit. Yeah. So I actually I wanted to ask you about that because you were so much far ahead of everyone else who does this in most of these contests, Like it's the old nature versus nurture debate, Right you was it you were just born with this? Or did you did you at some point develop this? It sounds like you were born with it, right, you just had to There's definitely there's

there's definitely some part of it. I was born with it, and then uh, and then then after that's that's with most things. Uh A natural runners naturally gonna be a good runner, but to be on an Olympic runner have to be naturally good and you have to you have to train. My first contest for hot dogs, I did twenty and a half and then uh and then as flow as the train mean and figuring out my body. Now I'm doing seventy six. So it's uh, there's definitely

nature and nurture. There's a combination. And uh, I think anybody who trains, I could definitely train them up to probably be about thirty hot dogs. But it takes a lot of work. And uh, you have to love to eat. Yeah, and when so when you were going up and I heard the story that you would come home from from school and just pig out right, you just go for it. Uh? And does anyone else in your family have this skill? Do you think you're the only one? Is it pass

down from generation? Oh? My god, it was. It was a running joke like if a chestnut was gonna get famous for something, it would be eating, because everybody in our family is if we're huge eaters, like that's great, Like we we we would have like we if we brought friends over like for dinner, like they would be amazing. Like the entire family just eat big portions for dinner. It was like, you know it was like our the only thing we have a huge family dinner every night.

That's great. And so this could be like the next generation, like you know, Lebron's trying to get his kids in the NBA. Joey Chestnut right down the line and the next great competitive eater right it's in. I don't know if the world, I don't know if the world needs another crazy chestnut right around. Well well, but but down the life you to see what we could have a hundred and forty hot dogs right the next the next way,

the next generation all that stuff. So now the other thing, this comes up every year because the Hot Dog Contest on the fourth of July, Nathans Hot Dog Contest, the Great Joy Chestnut here but the debate of are you an ath and I have I have seen some of the stories about what happens to your body after an event like this? Do you do you consider yourself an athlete? Joe Oh, I have to the amount of the amount of energy and thought and sacrifice aftertly I'm willing to

do for this. Uh, I definitely see myself an athlete, and uh, some people don't. That's all right, right. I remember when I was younger, there are people who have said, oh, golf golfers. Golfers aren't athletic. It's not even a real sport. So it's things change, people's perspectives change. Yeah, I have to just yeah, but I suffering. Yeah, you're testing your body, right, you're testing the limits of your body, and and uh and you also, I mean you're competing with other people.

So those are a lot of that. To me, it's a sport. But what does your doctor say, do you does your doctor say, what are you doing here? Knock it off? Or is he cool? So so I moved last year, so I finally found a new doctor, put in some works finding a doctor. And he's a good dude. Uh. He actually run my blood. I think it was like just this year alone, He's running my blood four times. Make sure all my organs are working right. Whatever I'm doing,

he said, they can keep doing it. He's a good guy. Right. He used to have another doctor. She was she was amazing back in California. She she's she was all about how many brains from a new ideas to push myself and how to state how to recover after the contest. But they're looking at the numbers and uh, they're they're they're making sure that I'm actually healthy, not not just then I worried so much about the one time contests. You're now in the Hoosier State, right, What the big

move to the to the Midwest? Is that for g geographical reasons or I mean, you know, I get into it, But that's a big move. It was a big move. But so I travel so much for the eating contests and UH and the appearances. It was great to be in the middle of the country. I go to Florida, I go to New York, Texas. It was just way easier. And I have a lot of friends out here. I miss California. I missed parts of it. It's it's great

to be on the East Coast time zone. And now now I can do UH if I have to do radio interviews early in the morning, it's so much easier. Yeah. I don't know. I'm I'm thirty eight. Who knows. I might. I might move back to California eventually. Yeah, it reminds

me doing the radio show. I the show seon Kid and I got dragged Enjoy to the program director's office and he had a big map right over his desk, and he he pointed out where the population is in the United States, and there's a lot of people live in California obviously, but most of the population obviously in

the Eastern time zone. That's where people living. That's your business and all that, But I wanted to ask you, now, you went to San Jose State, when you were like in college years ago, how did you envision your life and you think you would have just like a regular job and construction or engineering or something like that, or yeah, that's that's that was the plan. I was getting the civil engineering degree and I aage avanging myself working for

a general contractor working on project management. I was I was on track for that, and uh then then I fell in love with the competitive eating and it's just like, uh, it just changed my direction completely. And like I said, I was one of the things about competitive beatings that I had never imagined that I that I enjoyed, is I get to I get to make other people happy. That there's people who drive for hours to come see

me and enjoy watching the contest. And I never imagined that I have a fan base and that that I enjoyed making happy. So it's a I would never would have I mean I would have been a good, good project manager, and I never made anything happy. I was always arguing over money and schedules and and changes. It was. Yeah, it was completely different and uh different, just different feel Yeah, yeah, I know I wanted to. We talked about you're an introvert like I am. We have that in common. And

but you've met so many people because of this. You're you're a pop culture You're in pop culture every year at the hot Dog and the Nathan's hot Dog Contest every year, Joey. So, who's the coolest celebrity? Who's a Joey Chestnut fan that you were very surprised to find out? Is there somebody that pops in your head, somebody that we know of celebrity or somebody from from pop culture? Like why can't that guy's a fan of competitive eating? He kind of enjoyed what I do. It was, it

was it was completely random. Uh. So a woman comes, oh, Mr Crystal would like to meet you, and it was Billy Crystal And then you help me, Mr Cheta. Yeah, Billy Crystal. I mean I'd never expected him to want to meet me, and uh and he was super nice. Yeah, I have good questions and and uh it's a really nice guy. That's cool. And then a leggie in Hollywood and and that's alute legend and comic legends. So how

many events? Now this is your full time gig, right, I mean you are you are the King of competitive leaders, So you don't this is your job. You're training year around. So how many events on average do you do in a year? Is your number A sweet spot? It's that's actually eating contests or about twenty uh during the summer. It will pick up. I think after hot Dogs on July twenty seven, they'll be in I'll be in Vegas getting Raising Cain's chicken fingers. Yeah, there you go. That's

my spot. Joe, you gotta do bet Joe, you gotta do me proud. That's my that's my chicken finger place. I love it. It's like it's like I'm a kid. I was like, it's like I'm Peter Pan chicken fingers. I'm trying to break a record and trying to get I want to get fifty in five minutes and uh so, so yeah, it's I got that one coming up in July. I got a rib contest in August, uh in Minnesota and it's so oh chicken wings and buffalo and late August. So it's so I get to eat all. Oh yeah,

I'm looking forward to the summer. I'm gonna eat a ton of good food that I love. You're like, it's like it's like Willy Wonka, but with food with not just chocolate. You're you're doing now, you do not Sometimes you eat really things that are kind of nasty. Brain pacos does not sound just so that was all right. So the only reason why I agree to go to that contest was it was a a It was at a huge zombie pub crawl and it was a big party, and it was it was a great party. I'm telling

you it was. It was a fun time and uh but it was it was brain tacos and they looked brains and they were rough. I had to pretty much eat with my eyes closed and just only open them up, just make sure I was one ahead of the guy next to me. That there is that the worst thing you've eaten in a contest. There is there something more worse than that, and worse than Unfortunately there's one that's worse. There was early on in the creation. Then it shouldn't

have been worse. It should be. It should have been delicious. I was eating crab cakes, uh casino and it was in Delaware, and I remember I arrived at the event and they already had the food sitting out and I was like, Oh, that's weird. And then when they when we got called up, I announced that I could smell. It was like there was fish in there and they've been sitting out for and it was. I almost got sick during the contest, and I it was the only time I had to run off stage. After the contest.

They literally get food poisoned everybody, and Uh, I'll never go We'll go back to midway slots in Delaware. Shot fired. So that's the one you have nightmares about. You don't have nightmares hot dogs or anything else, but that's the one that pops. That's the one. And I love crab cake. I turned me off for crab cakes for quite a while, but now I can't even eat them again. But d

it was I'm not calling any punches with that. That that that's like, I'm not a fish guy anyway, but the idea of fish shitting out, Oh my god, that's that's that is horrible. That's a stomach ache waiting to happen. So, now, what is the easiest food eat you? What's the one that you can just NonStop in a contest setting that you have no problem with it? That is, people would say hot dogs because you're so good at it. But is there something else that's just easy to eat in

the contest? Yeah, how do how dogs are naturally good for me? But it's such a big contest. I'm putting working. I'm I'm not going easy on it. Uh, once in a while checking wings. Chicken wings are it's not a capacity food, it's a technique food. And uh it's it's a fun one. If they're usually Buffalo, they're amazing Wingfest and uh the people who show up to that event are always there there. They love love, I mean, it's a huge event and uh I always have a great

time there the chicken wing guy. But you're gonna be You're gonna sit a record. I'm so exciting. I you're going to the Canes thing later the summer, after the hot dog thing, And yeah, I can polish off six Joey in about twenty minutes at my when I eat lunch, the candy at combo. But you're you said fifty and how what's the time on that? I want to I want to make sure I want I'm gonna have five minutes to five. I'm really hoping I can do. I'm gonna have to hustle. Oh yeah, that's gonna be cool.

Let's get back to the the Nathans things this weekend on the fourth of July. So the question when I I talked about this every year. I'm fascinated about what you do and I want to know it kind of walk us through post contest, because that's the one people ask many questions about what happened when a human being pushes the limits like the Great Joey Chestnut. It's seventy plus our talks. So right after, how many hours does it take for your shall we say, to things to

exit out of the fireworks? Yes? Yes, the light of the light show. Uh, it's a I I've never exactly timed it, but yeah, I would say it's roughitly five hours before nature starts working. But it's it's weird because so after after the contest, I have to do interviews for about an hour afterwards, and they put it for me this weird like bullpen and they bring more people up every every five minutes interview meanings. So it takes

it takes about an hour to get through that. Then then it takes an hour to get to get back to the hotel in Manhattan. So and then I pass out about I say, about five hours after the contest. I wake up with a look in my eye that

I'm I'm I'm running, you're running? And then are we talking hours on the iron portion or yeah it's people are like people thinking that it's not it's not the way it works is uh, there's no, it's not coming out all at once, so there will be different waves and uh, it comes in waves, and yeah it's And then I would I'm I'm happy, I dode, I got I gotta dude. Wife sponsors sponsorship the went wives for men. You joke, that's what That's what I'm putting them the

use I love it. I love it. And then uh, and how long until before before you you feel normal? Like? Is there? Is it a couple of days? Is it a week? How long it's it takes it? And no, it's if it's a good uh portagely and I'm not be hydrated, it'll take me about a day and a half to feel pretty close to normal. Uh, and then then and then another another day or another day and a half uh to get back to my normal weight. But uh, yeah, it takes it takes about three days

to get get pretty close to normal normal. Um. But there's different degrees of and when recovering. Have you pushing the body that hard? Uh? Definitely takes some time to recover. So what's your diet like normally like when you're out just like during when you're not training for an event? You just are you doing fasting? Like eat like pretty I hate pretty clean and unless i'm unless I uh, I try to once a week, I'm definitely having uh. Just I wouldn't say reward days as much as like, oh,

I'm I'm enjoying enjoying food. I'm not. I'm not holding back, but I try to keep it pretty uh pretty pretty strict diet, low carb, high protein and uh and and and and it allows it so that I, uh that once a week, I during the weekends and I can push it with whatever food I want, whether it's contest or or or just pure pure pleasure. So do you have a man cave with You've one like these belts and these awards and all this all over the country.

You have like a big man cave in your house in Indiana, a trophy room or what do you do with all this stuff? Oh? My god, I have Uh so I have a couple of boxes I never unpacked from California, a lot of my trophies. I I have an office with with with a ton of my trophies. Uh yeah, so so yeah, they're kind of spread around. I need a man cave. Uh, I need to put some work into that. But it's uh, there's a lot of them. Uh and uh, yeah it was. It was okay,

it was. It's weird. You don't realize. I didn't. Yeah, I didn't know how many contests I did until I was actually packing up all the all the trophies. Yeah. So yeah, you never know until you move how much stuff you have. Right, Yeah, it's weird. It's a pain in the pain the behind there. Man. Alright, So, how many more years you're doing this show? You you said you're thirty eight, right, you're gonna be your forty before you know it and all that. So how many more

years you have in this? I don't know. I feeling I feel good. I looked at Tom Brady he's still going at forty three. Uh there forty four now, Yeah, but it's uh, I need to make sure that I remained healthy, so I gotta keep putting work in. Uh it'd be nicer to be nice to start working out a little bit more so that I can. Uh that I can. And there's a couple of things I need to do to make sure that I can stay healthy and keep pushing it. But uh, I know I got

at least at least two more years. Yeah. And then and you're you got the website there you're selling Is that your sauce? Right? Your name is that? Yeah, that's you. How's that going? And people buying the sauce. It's fun. Yeah, a lot of people buying sauces. Uh, and people who love to eat. So, yeah, we've got the Cony sauce, which is like it's's kind of like a catch up. It's uh, it's not not not quite a sweet to

catch up, a little bit more tang to it. And uh, then my spicy muster that which I'm in love with, I'll put that on. I love that hot dogs or anything that. Yeah, any sandwich, that's cool. And then I saw you can get in an autograph or you'll autograph. People buy stuff on there, And I mean, this is I guess a cheap commercial. Why not? But on your website, Joy Chestnut's website you can buy sauce, you autogo something. So you mentioned it. So I just wanted to kind

of wrap up with this. So you said you could train someone like as a coach, a competitive eating coach. Do people ask you about coaching? Do they say, hey, help me out, I need some pointers on this and and uh and would you get into that Once you're done physically doing the eating, would you teach other people how to do it? Yeah, I've definitely there's definitely been years. Have helped over the years, uh and helped it and I enjoy it. I enjoy seeing them, uh push their

bodies to a new new level. Uh, it's it's a weird kind of Uh. Yeah, I I enjoy seeing other people do it. Um. Sometimes I'm definitely against it. I don't think I don't think there's enough. It's not I don't want to make a career out of that, but I I still love the contest. But you think thirties about the limit? Right? You said about when you could

teach somebody. I think I think most Yeah, most people who I've seen a lot of people who who had no like natural ability, and it drew just sheer determination. They were able to get to thirty uh and they eat like a bird naturally and then they student doing practices and some jaw exercises and throat and swallowing exercises and uh that they they're able to work up their capacity. So it's uh an ability. So so it's uh that anybody can be trained. Gosh, And so what's the goal

Monday fourth or July? Do you have a number in your head that you're looking for for the hot dog contest? Joys, Oh, I got. I'm really hoping just to find a good rhythm. If I find a good rhythm and the hot dogs are fast, they're good hot dogs, I'll be close to a record. But I just want to I want to find that rhythm where my body is happy and I'm I'm not forgetting to breathe that I'm feeding off the energy in the audience for the last couple of minutes

and I'm pushing to the limit. Let it flow right, yeah, my flow state, and uh, it's just gonna hopefully if I have to do that. I'll be pushing our record listen Joy. It's great to talk to you. I'm so excited we did this and I'll be watching. We'll all be watching on the fourth of July. And good luck and continue to Thanks for doing this, Jo, I appreciate it. Oh, thank you. Do you take care