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Competitive eating legend Joey Chestnut reflects on the record he’s most proud of — and the time he took down a protester wearing a Darth Vader mask

One of his most notable records is downing 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes — buns included.

But over nearly two decades, competitive eating legend Joey Chestnut has set more than 50 world records.

Per the Major League Eating website, that includes 182 chicken wings in 30 minutes; 103 Krystal hamburgers in 8 minutes; 12 pounds of deep-fried asparagus spears in 10 minutes; 13.76 pounds of pork ribs in 12 minutes; 14.5 pounds of burritos in 10 minutes; and 121 Twinkies in 6 minutes.

The list goes on and on and on.

Even with that extensive resume, it’s hard for Chestnut to wrap his mind around the fact that he’s been in the competitive eating world for two decades. But then, as he takes a brief pause to reflect on the inevitable but somehow still shocking passage of time, he realizes the seeds for his success were sown well before that.

“I mean, it’s almost four decades. My mom said I had the biggest mouth as a baby,” he told the Deseret News during a phone interview Sunday morning. “Even though I wasn’t competitive, I was still a big eater.”

Now, the 41-year-old Chestnut is preparing to set a new world record.

On Memorial Day, at the Rural King store in South Terre Haute, Indiana, Chestnut will attempt to usurp his own popcorn eating world record: 32 24-ounce servings of popcorn in 8 minutes.

“It’s actually really hard. I wish it was an easier record,” Chestnut said.

During one of his recent practices, he ended up inhaling popcorn through his nose. If anything like that happens on Memorial Day, he said, it will likely ruin his attempt to shatter his own record.

“I need to make sure I don’t inhale popcorn through my nose and cough,” he said. “I just need to stay calm and find that rhythm.”

Ahead of Monday’s big event, Chestnut spoke to the Deseret News about the record he’s most proud of, the time he took down a protester during the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest (even with a broken leg) and still managed to scarf down 63 hot dogs, and the appeal of competitive eating.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Deseret News: Are you confident you can beat your popcorn record at this point?

Joey Chestnut: Yeah, I mean, it can happen. I’m nervous. I don’t want to be overconfident and turn complacent, but I can definitely do it. It sounds dorky, but it’s just a matter of finding the rhythm, taking the right size handful, the right sip of water, breathing at the right time, and swallowing and all those little things.

It’s buttery, you get to salt it on your own, to your own preference. Tomorrow I’ll probably have just minimal salt, but it’ll definitely be buttery and tasty.

DN: Is it more of a challenge to compete against yourself, your own record, or to go up against somebody?

JC: It’s a little bit different. A couple weeks ago, I broke my bologna record — second place didn’t get near my old record — so I think having the competitors there sometimes helps me in the beginning, because it helps me find that rhythm. It helps the intensity.

But towards the end of the contest, if I’m trying to break a record, I like to get the audience yelling at me and pushing me. It’s a different energy, but towards the end of the contest, it feels like I‘m almost at one with the audience.

DN: Is there anything that you do specifically to prepare for popcorn compared to other foods?

JC: A lot of hot dogs or big contests, I have to do a real cleanse beforehand, like almost two days, no solid food. Great thing about popcorn is it’s mostly air, so it’s not going to be a capacity contest. I’ll be able to eat a little bit of food today and make sure I have the energy up, and tomorrow, I’m just going to be super excited and ready to go.

DN: What will you eat today?

JC: I’ll probably do salad. I’m craving some salad, maybe a wedge salad with a little bit of bacon on there and blue cheese.

DN: Eating competitions often take place on patriotic holidays, like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day. Does that mean competitive eating is patriotic?

JC: I don’t think it’s patriotic. I don’t know if patriotism and competitive eating go together necessarily, but it’s definitely an American tradition. It brings people together on holidays — it’s patriotic-adjacent.

It really is fun. Most people, after they go to a contest, they’re really surprised that they enjoyed it, if they weren’t already a fan.

DN: What about competitive eating do you think draws such fascination from people?

JC: Especially when it’s foods that everybody’s eating — like everybody’s eating hot dogs — and they’ve kind of imagined, “I wonder how many could I eat?” so people can kind of relate. A lot of people don’t know how hard it is to hit a home run, so it’s hard to relate, or to kick a field goal. But everybody can kind of relate to how many hot dogs I’m eating.

And also everybody can kind of relate to what it feels like to overeat or be full. People can see the stress, and sometimes when we’re sweating and there’s a little bit of pain, an old man, woman, child, can all understand that.

DN: Two decades of this, what is a record that you’re most proud of?

JC: I mean, it’s hard to really narrow it down, but hot dogs on the Fourth of July is always going to be an amazing one, at 76. And hardboiled eggs, I had 141 hardboiled eggs (a 2013 record set in Radcliff, Kentucky). That one made my grandpa really, really happy. He was a little bit bummed out I didn’t get to 144, the perfect gross. That would have been an awesome number for a hardboiled egg record.

Hardboiled eggs was great. It’s also probably one of the most iconic eating scenes in competitive eating, the “Cool Hand Luke” with Paul Newman, where he eats the 50 eggs. So I think a lot of people can relate to that one.

DN: You’ve got to go for 144 now.

JC: I know. I was younger, too, back then. So it’s always great to try to break a record that I made when I was younger. It’d be crazy to break that one.

DN: What would you consider a favorite or standout memory in food competition?

JC: A few years ago at a Fourth of July contest, there was a protester who got on stage. I hardly remember it. I was like, “This guy’s in front of me,” so I grabbed him. And then I looked at the video and I was like dang, I looked angry. It’s weird because I hardly remember it, but it just really stands out because it was so different.

Unbelievable that it happened and I was able to get it together and continue eating, even though I had a protester right in front of me. He had a Darth Vader mask. That was a wild one.

DN: So you really don’t remember much of it at this point?

JC: I remember somebody getting in front of me and being like, “They’re in the way.” And then I hardly even remember grabbing them. But then there was like a pause where I’m like, “I gotta keep eating.” That’s what I remember. “I gotta keep eating, that’s what I’m here for. I gotta eat.”

DN: And you got 63, right?

JC: 63, with a broken leg.

DN: To your knowledge, is there a food competition scene in Utah?

JC: I think I might have done a grilled cheese sandwich eating contest in Utah one time, a long time ago. I’m surprised I haven’t found a good contest in Utah.

There was some bar, I don’t know if it was a bar or some restaurant, I think they had a really spicy burger. They wanted me to come there, and my schedule couldn’t make it work.

This burger, it scared me, because it looked like it was really, really spicy. Spice isn’t really my forte, but I’ll do it every now and then.

(Chestnut was likely referring to a challenge at Lucky 13 in Salt Lake City).

DN: So would you ever consider doing a food competition in Utah?

JC: Absolutely, yeah. I would love to make a record there.

DN: There’s a lot of Utah culture-specific foods that could be featured in a competition.

JC: Like what?

DN: Green Jell-O is a thing. There’s something called funeral potatoes; it’s commonly served at funeral gatherings in the area. It’s essentially a cheesy potato casserole.

JC: Wow, that actually sounds delicious. A little bit grim.

DN: What do you like to eat when you’re not competing?

JC: That’s a mixed bag. I have to eat really clean, so it’s a lot of salads, some protein, no carbs, no sugar. But when I have cheat days, I love good Mexican food. I love steak and potatoes. When my diet allows, I go to town with whatever I’m craving. I don’t hold back.

DN: Is there any food that you would absolutely never want to enter a competition for?

JC: I used to say raw oysters — I wouldn’t do that. But the other day, I had these raw oysters, and they came all ready with like the vinaigrette, already dressed, all delicious. And I was like, “I could do that.”

But raw oysters just by themselves, they kind of gross me out without the salty or spicy added on. So I think that’d be pretty hard.

DN: At this point, do you think you would be returning to the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest this year (Chestnut was banned from the competition last year due to his endorsement deal with Impossible Foods).

JC: I would love to compete. Everybody knows I love that contest. ... I don’t know if they want me. It’s a weird relationship. We’re gonna see what happens. No matter what, I’ll be competing somewhere.

DN: Anything else you’d like to mention?

JC: I’m happy. This is gonna be a fun one. Rural King, they do a good job with their popcorn. And I think anybody who shops there knows that it’s a tasty popcorn, so they can kind of relate to what I’m doing.

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