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Topics: Celebrity Net Worth, Food And Drink
Tom Hennessy
Joey Chestnut is not your typical competitor.
But nor is the arena in which he competes.
The San Jose native is the top-ranked competitive eater in the world through his exploits in Major League Eating.
Chestnut exploded onto the eating scene in 2005 with a break-out performance in which he devoured 2.9kg of asparagus in 11.5 minutes. While Chestnut holds records for eating a wide variety of foods, from Big Macs to apple pie, his career has primarily revolved around scranning hotdogs at incredible speeds.
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The Californian has been crowned the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Champion 15 times.
The annual hot dog eating competition has been held in Coney Island, New York since 1972.
After winning his 15th hot dog eating title last week, despite interruptions from a protester, many are wondering just how much the San Jose University graduate is worth?
As of 2022, the 38-year-old is worth an estimated $2.5 million (£2.1 million) according to Celebrity Net Worth.
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The rules of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, the competition that made Chestnut’s name, are simply eating as many hotdogs, including buns, as possible in 10 minutes.
The former construction engineer has consumed a truly stonking 76 hotdogs in the 2021 iteration, a personal, and a world record.
To get such a quantity of hotdogs down the hatch, the American adopted a specialised training regime.
Chestnut trains by fasting and by stretching his stomach with milk, water and protein supplements.
He then eats hotdogs in a simulated competition style, an exercise he compared to running or lifting weights for more conventional athletes.
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In order to swallow as quickly as possible, Chestnut, like most in the sport, dunks each hot dog in water for lubrication.
The 15-time champion now resides in Westfield, Indiana and has an extensive classic car collection.
Chestnut also has a line of condiments he sells under his name.