Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, The Action Network has had the pleasure of sitting down with none other than Joey Chestnut – the world's No. 1 competitive eater.
As Joey attempts to break the official popcorn eating world record on Memorial Day, we spoke with him on his favorite foods, his approach to competitive eating, and whether he will be at Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest this year!
Q: Welcome, Joey, and please tell us about the record you are attempting to break.
Joey: "This is actually a record I set a few couple years ago. And, dude, this is great because Rural King are known for their popcorn. It's awesome popcorn, and they give it out for free!
But it's also delicious. And they invited me to break the record on Memorial Day, and it's going down, 1PM."
Q: Popcorn is a famously light and puffy item. Do you do any special training to prepare for the mechanics of eating more unique foods?
Joey: "It's definitely hard to find the right rhythm.
I'll be quick with drinking. I'm gonna use the water liberally. It should help. Water almost makes the popcorn vanish a bit quicker. I'll pour it in my hand and try to get it in and get it down.
There's gonna be a judge there. If I make a mess, they'll have deductions, but usually, I'm pretty clean.
It's gonna be buttery! It might be a sunny day in Indiana, so I'm gonna be glistening!"
Q: Generally speaking, how big of a factor are weather conditions like heat and humidity for you?
Joey: "There's tons of little things. You know, I'm crazy. I try to hide it, but the weather affects me.
It's Indiana. We have the wind. So I've been looking at the forecast to make sure it's not too windy because the wind might blow things around.
I really don't like when it's cold because you know what? You're not flexible when it's cold.
Your muscles don't wanna stretch. In competitive eating, you're stretching your whole core to the max.
The weather won't be really warm, it won't be freezing. So that's good.
The day you wake up, you gotta make sure you're able to breathe.
If you wake up with any kind of cold, your nasals are messed up – I have to breathe through my nose the entire time.
Even if I have a little something going on, I'll use whatever I need to do to be able to breathe, at the moment of the contest.
But every food's a little bit different. This popcorn, last time I did it, there were some unpopped kernels, and I almost broke a tooth.
It was really close. And so little things like that can just really throw you off. But it's still eating. It's fun. It's like the best thing in life.
Every time it gets hard, I'm like, alright, ‘I still have the best job in the world’."
Q: How do you feel about Memorial Day? Do you feel confident that you're gonna break the record, your own record?
Joey: "I'm nervous. I'm nervous as heck. Oh my god.
I'm hoping nothing throws me off. No crazy kernels to come in there and break a tooth.
No weird coughs. It's only an eight minute event. So if I have some water or popcorn that goes down the wrong tube, a cough could really throw me off.
It'll be hard to get back on it.
I just wanna find a rhythm real quick. There's gonna be a little bit of dancing. So if there's a person that's gonna pour a new bag of popcorn in once my bowl is close to empty, I hope that person's on top of their game. And we can kinda coordinate together, they can get in there.
There's always little variables, but I wouldn't try if I didn't think I could do it. I'm really hoping I can do it, but it's gonna be a challenge!"
Q: Last year, you did not compete in the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Contest on July 4th. Is this popcorn-eating event a warm-up for a return to Coney Island?
Joey:"No matter what, I'll be eating hot dogs on July 4th somewhere. I love competition. I love pushing myself, and I feel like I've already started training to eat hot dogs.
My body's working really well, and I'm gonna be able to push really, really hard on Memorial Day."
Q: You've been at this for at least 20 years now, becoming something of an iron horse. When you first started, did you expect to still be going strong in 2025? How has it changed your life?
Joey: "Oh my god. Heck no.
When I first started, I was not necessarily ashamed of it, but It wasn't something I was telling everybody I'm doing this.
I was in love with it. And then it started to be more acceptable. And so, eventually, I was able to give up my job in construction management.
This is who I am. I'm the best in the world, and I'm proud of it."
Q: In terms of the eating experience, what are the best & worst foods for you? Have you ever competed in a contest and afterwards said never again?
Joey: "Oh, geez. Pizza's up there.
Pizza is always fun. I remember eating pizza as a family, and that was one of the first times I got in trouble for eating too much because it was just going down easy.
And people can keep track of numbers. Like, ‘oh, you've had so many slices’. Pizza is still one of my favorites. It's great. I love it for contest food, it's good.
And ribs. Oh my god. Ribs.
I have an awesome technique. Usually, I can use my face and my hands to strip the meat off the bone. I do the same thing with wings, although lately, I haven't been winning wing contests.
I recently did a baloney contest.
And, dude, it was crazy how good it was. They smoked it, and it was really delicious.
I blew out the record 15 pounds in ten or eight minutes. I was hustling!"
Q: What about your least favorite?
Joey: "Least favorite…it goes back to foods that I love.
If it's a food I love and the sponsor somehow messed it up, it really is depressing that I have to try to eat a whole bunch of it.
Normally, I love this food, and they did a bad job.
And that's the work. I've done some chicken wings, some lamb rib contests, where they overcook it and you can't distinguish meat from bone.
That's just torture.
I did a cow brain taco eating contest, and that was gnarly. And they look like brains.
They were a little metallic tasting. That one I won't be doing again!
But usually, I'm pretty lucky. I do contests because the sponsor wants to do a good job with the food.
I only do contest foods that I like."
Q: What is your favorite meal, when eating like a normal person?
Joey:"My ideal meal? I get cravings. Some days it's Mexican, but the other day I was craving Thai food, and we had two different types of noodles and two kinds of salad.
The papaya salad and then a larb.
When I get a craving for food, I'm going all in.
If I go to a steakhouse, my fiance and I will usually have two different cuts of meat.
She's eating half of hers and the other half, and I'm gonna make sure we try something new.
When I get a craving and it's a weekend, I go all out, but I have to be careful.
I have to eat really clean. Otherwise, I gain weight. And when I gain weight, then I don't eat well on the weekends. And I lose contests.
So, as much as I love eating, I have to control it so that when I do these contests, I'm able to perform. There's been times where I go and I end up losing to people I shouldn't lose to, and I have to shake hands with fans who've driven a couple hours to come see me.
And that's a bummer that I didn't perform for them."
Q: How do you size up your competition for any contest?
Joey: "Every contest is a little different. Everybody has their strengths.
I mentioned a little bit ago that I haven't won a wing contest in a while. That's because there's a guy from Australia who's just an animal, James Webb, and he's beat me three times in a row in wings.
I need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to beat this guy, this Australian crocodile!
Every food has different strategies, and for the most part, I'm able to really figure them out."
Q: Do you consider yourself the greatest eater of all time?
Joey:"Ten years after I'm done, it'll be easier to look at that.
But I can pretty confidently say I'm the best one out there right now, with the exception of the chicken wings!"
Q: What advice do you have for the aspiring competitive eater?
Joey: "Competitive eating on paper. When you look at it without digging deep, it looks really, really unhealthy.
But in order to be a great competitive eater, you have to be really in tune with your body and be able to push your body
I tell people: the biggest thing is to learn about your body, keep a food journal, and log what you're eating and what you're doing and how you're feeling.
You have to learn that you don't necessarily have to feel good to be able to perform well.
There's days where I don't feel like practicing. I feel tired and lethargic from doing my fast beforehand, but I want to get everything going.
I find this rhythm, and it works. I think you have to learn about your body in order to really be great at pushing your body to a crazy limit."
Q: Do you consider yourself an American hero?
Joey: "No, I'm a goofy American that got lucky! And, I think that it's because I found something. I found my little thing, and I went all in. I think that's what being an American is.
You have the ability, the freedom, to do your thing and go all in."
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