Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Champ Joey Chestnut Says It’s Rare For His Fridge Not To Be Stocked With Dogs

While Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Joey Chestnut definitely gets his fill of hot dog’s during the highly-anticipated 4th of July contest, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t indulge in them during the rest of the year.

As many know, Chestnut is the reigning hot dog eating champion and he’s already won the contest an impressive 11 times. This year, Chestnut is going for his 12th win and he doesn’t see himself stepping down from the contest anytime soon. In a recent interview with People, Chestnut talked about his love for hot dogs and says that he will continue to participate in the yearly event as long as he’s healthy and having fun doing it.

Last year, Chestnut broke the record and ate 77 hot dogs during the 10-minute contest. And while many think that someone who ate so many hot dogs in one sitting would be sick of them for the rest of the year, Chestnut said that isn’t the case for him. In fact, he says it’s rare for his fridge not to have the all-American treat in it.

“It’s pretty rare for them to not be in our fridge, I have usually a good supply of all beef hot dogs,” the 35-year-old dished. “I mean, there are times when I’m not eating buns if I’m on a low-carb diet. I’ll have hot dogs and romaine lettuce, but if I’m at a baseball game, I’m always eating a hot dog.”

“It’s one of those things, like runners after they run a marathon like crazy 26 miles, they still like to run,” the champion added. “And I still like to eat hot dogs.”

And while Chestnut has won many competitions in his lifetime, he’s always competed with Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi, who has won the competition six times himself. While the two are both obviously very competitive during the contest that’s held at Coney Island every year, they’re also competitive outside of the hot dog eating arena as well. Chestnut even says that Kobayashi probably wants nothing to do with him and that’s how deep the rivalry runs.

But, Chestnut did have a few nice things to say about his opponent, claiming that he “doesn’t lose” and when he does, there’s usually a reason for it.

“I love competing against him and part of it is that that’s one of the best things to beat somebody who doesn’t accept losing. There’s no better feeling than beating someone who’s up on a high horse.”

While fans will have to wait until the 4th of July to watch the actual event, they can get their hot-dog-eating fill two days before the event by watching the ESPN documentary The Good, The Bad, The Hungry. The documentary will highlight the contest as well as the rivalry between Chestnut and Kobayashi to get fans psyched for the main event.

The Good, The Bad, The Hungry is slated to premiere on Tuesday, July 2, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.