Who is Joey Chestnut? 5 things you need to know about the Hot Dog Champ

Uncategorized

Nothing is more American than watching Joey Chestnut enter the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4 – but there’s more to know about the man behind the meat.

When did Joey Chestnut start competitive eating?

Chestnut entered the eating contest scene in 2005 as a college student. He competed and stunned the crowd in a breakaway performance at the Fried Asparagus Eating Championship where he wiped out 6.3 pounds of asparagus in 11 and a half minutes, beating Professional Eater Rich LeFevre.

After the asparagus contest, Chestnut qualified for the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest that same year. On his Coney Island debut, the competitive eater ate 32 hot dogs and finished in third place Sonya Thomas and former champion Takeru Kobayashi.

Efren Landaos/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

How many times has Joey Chestnut won the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest?

Chestnut had had two years before taking home victory in the annual competition. In 2007, Chestnut and Kobayashi went head-to-head in a record-breaking hot dog eating battle. Kobayashi — who had won the game six years in a row — was able to eat just 63 francs, while the San Jose State University alum wiped out 66 hot dogs to clinch victory.

Since his debut in 2005, Chestnut has won the hot dog eating contest a total of 15 times and has eaten between 59 and 76 hot dogs in each session.

For the 2023 competition, the ESPN app will have a dedicated camera feed for Chestnut starting at 12:45 p.m. ET. (The entire game will air on the app and ESPN 2.)

Does Joey Chestnut have a job besides professional food?

Before becoming a household name, Chestnut worked for a Northern California construction management company. However, in 2010, he decided to leave his day job behind to focus full time on being a professional eater. In a July 2023 interview with USA Today sportstold Chestnut about the difficult decision, revealing that he earns $500,000 a year and his net worth is over $4 million.

“My mom was worried,” he recalls. “I mean, it’s nice to have a job. You have health care and retirement, all that sort of thing. So I had to convince my mom that I still had a plan for all those things.

The grand prize for winning Nathan’s competition is $10,000 and Chestnut earns additional money for his various sponsorships.

Who is Joey Chestnut - 5 things you need to know about the hot dog eating champion — Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

Did Joey Chestnut lose Nathan’s famous hot dog eating contest?

After winning eight years in a row, Chestnut was dethroned in 2015 by Matt Stony, who made his competition debut a year earlier. In the match, Chestnut ate 60 hot dogs while Stonie consumed 62 to take the win in an upset victory.

Has Joey Chestnut competed in other competitions?

A professional competitive eater, Chestnut has also competed — and holds world records — in several other food challenges, including chicken wings, funnel cakes, tamales, Twinkies, tacos, Big Macs, chicken fingers, and more.

In 2018, Chestnut took part in Season 30 of The great race next to fellow professional eater, Tim Janus. The duo was the fourth team to be eliminated.