Competitive eating may be a somewhat bizarre concept to anyone residing outside of North America. It is a competition that measures how much a person can eat in a specific time frame. But, despite it seeming bizarre to the rest of the world, it is a beloved sport in the USA. And the reigning champion is none other than Joey Chestnut.
Joey Chestnut is an American competitive eater whose career began while he was still at college. The San Jose University graduate went on to become the world's most famous and beloved competitive eater. Here is a short biography on the legend Joey Chestnut.
Early Life And Family
Born Joeseph Christian Chestnut on November 25, 1983, in Vallejo, California, the world champion has had an enormous appetite since very young. His parents, Merlin Chestnut and Alicia Chestnut, separated when he was just two years old. As a result, Alicia raised the world's most successful eater alongside his five other siblings as a single mother.
The nature of Joey's relationship with his family is unknown. But, as per his website, we would not have known about Joey had his brother not enrolled him in his very first eating competition.
As the college student had a huge appetite, he would wolf down his food whenever he was home from college. This is what lead Joey Chestnut's brother to believe that he could take on an eating challenge. And as expected, he has succeeded and never looked back since.
Joey Chestnut's Career
After his first eating competition at 21 years old, Joey Chestnut was hooked. As a struggling college student, the young competitor would take part in contests at any given chance if it ensured him a filling meal with extra benefits. His enormous appetite certainly did help him in getting good ranks in his first few competitions without training.
Moreover, the competitive eater has been wolfing down various types of food since 2005. Chestnut has continued striving forward since his participation and win in the deep-fried asparagus eating contest (defeating its former champion). Then, he went on to participate in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest for the first time the same year and placed third.
The young sport has since then returned to the competition every year since then and won 14 times. In 2021, Joey Chestnut even set a record by eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Joey Chestnut was able to win the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest for the 14th year after eating 76 in 10 minutes. This is also a world record. Photo Source: Joey's Instagram.
Although eating contests were weird initially, once he got the hang of it, The Glizzy Gladiator loved it. Name a food-eating competition, and Joey Chestnut is sure to have participated in it. From wings to a whole turkey, from apple pies to steaks, and from meatballs to pizzas, he has conquered them all. Just winning is never enough for him, as he has to aim for world records.
If one were wondering how the world record holder could eat so much, the simple answer would be training. Although he has an enormous appetite, it is not an easy feat to gulp down so much food and maintain healthy body weight. And Joey Chestnut has shared his training procedure with his fanbase.
Joey has shown that he trains with a small amount of food, water, and/or milk in the beginning to help stretch his stomach. And then increase his intake over a few days.
Moreover, food competitions are not his only job. When he is not eating inhuman amounts of food, Joey Chestnut is a construction manager and a civil engineer. However, it is not sure where he works.
Joey Chestnut's long list of wins and numerous world records have led to him being the "apex predator" of eaters in the Major League Eating rankings. He sits atop a long list of competitive eaters like Matt Stonie, Geoffrey Esper, and Miki Sudo.
MLE is a worldwide body that overlooks professional eating competitions. So for Joey to be on the #1 spot on the MLE Eating ranking certainly means that he is the World's Best Eater.
World Records
Joey Chestnut has not been named the greatest eater for no reason. In addition to winning several eating contests, the living legend has set over forty world records. Here is a list of the world records set by him.
| Date | Record | Time |
| Apr 8, 2006 | 118 Jalapeno Poppers | 10 minutes |
| Sept 1, 2007 | 45 Pulled Pork Sandwiches | 10 minutes |
| Nov 22, 2014 | 9.35 lbs Whole Turkey | 10 minutes |
| Oct 1, 2016 | 25.5 lbs Smoke's Poutinerie Poutine | 10 minutes |
| July 4, 2021 | 76 Nathan's Hot Dogs | 10 minutes |
The above list is just a speck compared to the actual 40+ world records held by Joey Chestnut. The legendary eater has not yet given up on his career, and he will undoubtedly be setting more records in the future,
Joey Chestnut Net Worth And Earnings
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the competitive eater Joey Chestnut's net worth has been estimated to be around $2 million. The colossal amount has been amassed thanks to his extensive participation in eating competitions and other side ventures. Moreover, the multiple record holder can earn between $250,000 and $500,000 a year.
Joey Chestnut has perfected condiments that goes well with BBQ, wings and Hot Dogs. Photo Source: Joey's Website.
Joey Chestnut has been the winner of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 14 times. The winner of the competition wins an impressive sum of $10,000. Although the sum may look small to some, people prefer to participate in the contest to gain more exposure as it is one of the most beloved eating competitions. Similarly, Hooters Worldwide Wing Eating Champion, which Joeseph has won four times, has prize money of $10,000.
Moreover, Joey Chestnut also might make a good salary from his job as a construction manager and civil engineer. According to Salary.com, on average, a civil engineer earns an impressive sum of $100K a year. Therefore, Chestnut's fortune is also aided by the amount he earns from his work as a civil engineer.
In addition to his participation in eating competitions, he also sells sauces and condiments. Joey Chestnut sells an assortment of sauces and condiments that are the perfect pairing with sausages, wings, sandwiches, and his favorite, hot dogs. The condiments are said to have been perfected by the entrepreneur over many trials and errors. Here is a list of items that Joey sells on his website.
| Item | Price |
| Sweet Sriracha Teriyaki Wing & Finishing Sauce | $8.00 |
| Spicy Brown Firecracker Mustard | $6.25 |
| Orange Citrus Habanero Wing & Dipping Sauce | $8.00 |
| Classic Boardwalk Coney Sauce | $6.25 |
| Joey Chestnut Eats 6-pack Sauce Case (A combination of wing and grilling sauces) | $48.00 |
| Wing Sauce 4-pack Case | $32.00 |
The world-famous competitive eater has also preferred to share his tricks and training with his followers. To do so, Joey Chestnut has a YouTube channel with more than 200k subscribers.
According to Social Blade, the channel brings him between $924 and $14.8K every year. He shares about his training for competitions, eating contests, and challenges on his channel.
With his title as the "World's Greatest Eater," the channel is sure to grow in the foreseeable future. And as the channel grows, so will his earnings and benefit Joey Chestnut's net worth.
Is Joey Chestnut Married?
World record holder certainly did make headlines when he proposed to his then-girlfriend Neslie Ricasa at a competition in 2014. So naturally, the female competitive eater too happily said yes. The fans present at the competition were more than glad to have witnessed such a blissful sight. The lovely couple was set to marry in 2015.
Unfortunately, the former couple announced their split just weeks before their planned wedding. Joey revealed that the couple did not work out due to his constant travels. The decision to split must have been for the best as the pair have now moved on and achieved better things in life. Although Chestnut did seem upset about it at first, he is in a much better place now.
Joey Chestnut's ex-girlfriend Neslie has since married a man named Drew Ely. The married couple has been enjoying a blissful life with their two children. However, Neslie has clearly moved on from her ex-boyfriend and also competitive eating as she no longer takes part in them.
On the other hand, Joseph has preferred to remain super quiet about his personal life. The world's greatest eater does not post much on social media; all he posts is about his food competitions and practice run. However, in 2019, Joey Chestnut did post a photo of himself with his "amazing babe" on his Instagram.
Joey Chestnut's girlfriend is named Brie. The world-famous competitor refrains from sharing any details about his relationship with the public. Apart from a photo with Joey, the woman remains a mystery to the public.
Although his competitive career has spanned over almost two decades, there seems to be nothing stopping Joey Chestnut from achieving more. The "Glizzy Gladiator" is nowhere nearly finished taking part in eating competitions and getting even higher than the peak he already is at. There is no doubt that the world's greatest eater will return to defend his title.
Trivia and Facts
- Joey Chestnut has participated in over 100 eating competitions.
- He is nicknamed Jaws.
- Joey Chestnut has a feud with fellow competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi.
