Joey Chestnut Sets The Record Straight On His Shocking Nathan's Ban - Exclusive Interview

Wednesday is National Hot Dog Day, and if there's one thing Joey Chestnut knows, it's hot dogs. The well-known competitive eater holds the world record for eating the most hot dogs in 10 minutes (a whopping 76) and has been at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island every 4th of July since 2005 as a participant — and favorite — in the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. But that all changed this year when Major League Eating suddenly banned Chestnut from competing because he'd signed a deal with Impossible Foods. 

While that ban "shocked" Chestnut, he hasn't given up competing in hot dog competitions or eating hot dogs themselves. He even switched locales this year and went down to Texas to compete at Fort Bliss in their own hot dog eating competition. He won, of course, by devouring 57 hot dogs in 5 minutes. Even though Chestnut missed being a part of Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest, the competitive eater tells us he will continue eating hot dogs wherever and whenever he can. In fact, he tells us that he's "always happy when I can have a hot dog and Pepsi" which is why Chestnut has partnered with Instacart and Pepsi for this year's National Hot Dog Day.

But that's not the only thing he told us when we sat down with him for an exclusive interview. Chestnut also shared his feeling about that surprising ban, his upcoming showdown with longtime rival Takeru Kobayashi, and his favorite competitive eating records.

How did it feel not being at Coney Island this year?

Joey Chestnut: Getting banned three weeks beforehand, that hurt. And then, I accepted it and I got lucky that Fort Bliss invited me to go compete there. That was an awesome event. I would do it with soldiers, they yelled at me and made me eat, and the competitors pushed me, and I was able to eat 57 hot dogs in five minutes. 

Yeah, I wondered if the 4th of July would suck not being at Coney Island, but I still was able to eat hot dogs and celebrate the 4th of July by eating hot dogs, and was happy. I definitely missed Coney Island a little bit, but I still had a great 4th of July.

According to Major League Eating, your invite was rescinded because of your partnership with Impossible Foods. Were you shocked by that ban?

Chestnut: I was shocked. My partnership didn't go against any of our previous agreements. They changed the agreement. They kept referring to Impossible as a hot dog company. That was what their story was. Impossible makes a lot of products. It was kind of weird, because the things I've been doing with Impossible are ground beef and chicken nuggets. They're being very selective. 

Two months ago, I did a bologna contest for Major League Eating and the sponsor was Elm Hill Meats, and that meat company also makes hot dogs. So, it made no sense that Major League Eating was alright with that, and that's actual hot dogs, sold right next to Nathan's. And they're not okay with me working with Impossible, which is selling completely different products.

They acknowledged that my work with Impossible wouldn't go against any of my previous agreements, but they changed the agreement. It was very frustrating. Then, when they started leaking information, they were trying to tell people I was turning vegan. Which, I have nothing against vegan people, but I eat green food after contests. That's part of me recovering after a contest. It was very unfortunate, the way that whole situation went.

Do you think that this rift is permanent? Or is there hope for a reconciliation and you can go back next year?

Chestnut: I don't have any idea. I'm willing to try to figure it out. I think we all look stupid and we can figure out a deal. At the end of the day, I feel like everything I said, I was honest and I can go to sleep at night. I can't force them to apologize or force them to do things, but I feel like I'm still willing to try to work things out.

You managed to scarf down 57 hot dogs in five minutes at Fort Bliss. Patrick Bertoletti, who won Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest this year, ate 58 hot dogs, but in double the time. Do you feel vindicated?

Chestnut: Ah, yeah, Pat's an awesome guy. He's a good dude. He's never beaten me in hot dogs. He's a really good friend. I think everybody at that contest knows, when I compete for hot dogs, they're competing for second. I love hot dogs, I love the 4th of the July, and if I'm competing, I'm going to blow everyone out of the water.

Do you think there should be an asterisk next to Bertoletti's name?

Chestnut: No, he's there. He ate the most hot dogs that day, on that stage, and he deserved that belt. But it's one of those things, it happens. Yeah, he earned it. He also got a personal best. That's the most hot dogs he's ever eaten. I think the top three or four other guys topped personal best. They were pushing each other very hard. And who knows? Maybe next year, if I'm able to make it back, we'll see if they can keep trying to get better and push me.

You're going head-to-head with Takeru Kobayashi in a hot dog showdown on Netflix in September. Do you have to change your training or do you have a strategy for that?

Chestnut: Oh, yes. It's pretty exciting because it's a 10-minute contest, similar hot dogs we've always done.

Is it Nathan's or a different hot dog?

Chestnut: We are not mentioning brands.

Okay.

Chestnut: The big change in the rule is that there's no dunking. So it'll be a little bit cleaner. But I'm going to be eating and drinking liquid. I might be a little bit slower, but I'm confident that I'm going to be able to push numbers. Mid-60s is definitely doable. It's a 10-minute contest, we're going to push each other hard and it's going to be exciting.

Kobayashi has said he'll only retire after he takes you down one last time, and that this live competition means, "Fans all over the world can watch me knock him out." What do you have to say to that?

Chestnut: I feel like it sounds like he wants to punch me. At the same time, wow, man, maybe he's not going to retire and I get to eat against him again. As long as I beat him, I get to eat against him again. I'm super excited about competing against him. If I win, I'll let him come back. I'll give him as many rematches as he wants. He's an awesome competitor. I love going against somebody who hates losing. He still has me blocked on social media. We're not friends. I'll put it like that.

Beyond the world record for 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes, you hold dozens of other records. Which ones mean the most to you? Can you talk a little bit about those competitions and why?

Chestnut: The unexpected ones, like 141 hard-boiled eggs. Oh my God. It was great because I remember practicing for that, and I had to shell them myself. After shelling all the hard-boiled eggs, I was exhausted and in all my practices, I did 105, 115. But the day of the contest, I was feeling good. They came all shelled and ready to go. It was just so much easier. I was all amped up. Yeah, like I said, 141, that's a rad record and I'm very happy with that. I love it when my record in those contests is a lot higher than practice.

What else was really killer? Oh, 13.6 pounds of rib meat in 12 minutes. They give us these trays of meat and they have to weigh the bones again. That was in Reno, and they did a really good job with the ribs. Yeah, I have a good technique, and when the food's tasty, it's amazing.

What's your technique for a rib contest?

Chestnut: I grab the bone in one hand and I'm scraping the meat with this hand and against my face, so this acts like a second mouth. Sometimes, I would squeeze the meat and try to eat it and chew it a little with my hand. And onto the next one.

Any others? I read that you ate 14 pounds of bologna in eight minutes.

Chestnut: I was very proud. That's my biggest record of the year so far. I liked it. It wasn't as tasty. The flavor got old fast, so I was like, "All right, I just got to find my happy place, keep eating." I think the best tasting I did was Katz's pastrami sandwiches. That was super tasty. There was a no dunking rule in that one, so we just had to eat it and drink. That was so tasty. Those sandwiches are like, $28 each. I think I ate, I don't know, $400 worth of their sandwiches.

How many sandwiches was it and what was the time?

Chestnut: It ended up being 12 and a half sandwiches. That was tasty. Also, something like that, you don't get full. It's a little bit hard to swallow. Like hot dogs, I go in knowing that in a 10-minute contest, I'm going to feel like garbage the next two days. Whenever I'm eating that much, it's pushing hard.

To celebrate National Hot Dog Day (July 17), Pepsi has partnered with Instacart for an exclusive offer: save $5 when you spend $20 on Pepsi and select grilling items. This interview has been edited for clarity.