Joey Chestnut Swaps Hot Dogs For This Salty Snack In Memorial Day Comeback

Competitive eating legend Joey Chestnut is switching gears from hot dogs to something a little lighter, but just as challenging. Popcorn.

Ahead of his next competition, The Blast caught up with Joey Chestnut, who opened up about the unique prep, the physical toll, and why popcorn might look easy, but isn’t.

“Popcorn, it’s easy to eat a lot of it. It’s just hard to eat it quick,” Chestnut explained. “The quick is the trick. I gotta find the right rhythm with drinking the water and controlling my breathing.”

Chestnut revealed he's been practicing and even broke a record in one of his prep sessions. “I’ve gotten three practices in, and one of them I was able to break a record,” he said. “I’m hoping that I can duplicate that.”

But success, he says, hinges on staying calm.

“Sometimes it’s easy to get excited, and I try to do things to get to the next step a little bit quick. So I gotta take big handfuls, control my breathing. I took a big handful, and I tried to breathe through my nose, and inhaled popcorn,” he laughed. “It’s relearning how to eat popcorn.”

The physical demands of eating mass quantities of popcorn might be different from hot dogs, but they come with their own challenges.

“I’ve had to learn to get comfortable swallowing a ridiculous amount of popcorn in my mouth at one time and trying to swallow it with a sip of water,” Chestnut said. “I convince myself it’s mostly air. Once it gets into my stomach, I get a couple big burps sometimes. I have to be careful, make sure that nothing comes out.”

He added, “The last two minutes are always the hardest. My body’s like, ‘What are you doing to me?’ I’ll be covered in butter and sweat, and that’s when I look my worst, but that’s when I need to do my best.”

Despite his years of experience, Chestnut admits he still gets nervous. “Absolutely nervous. I want to do well,” he said. “If I let the nerves take over, I don’t do well. I just stay calm, breathe, and go one step at a time. It’s just like a mental game.”

He also relies on the crowd to push him through the final stretch. “I feed off the energy of the audience. They’re going to be yelling at me. That helps. It’s hard, but it’s fun.”

When it comes to post-contest recovery, Chestnut says popcorn is far more forgiving than other events. “With hot dogs or bratwurst or bologna, I’m bloated for a day and a half. But this one will be pretty cool. It’s easy on the body.”

However, there is one competition you won’t catch him at.

“There used to be a raw oyster eating contest in New Orleans,” he said. “I always used an excuse like, ‘Oh, I’m getting ready for another contest,’ so I can’t do that one. But really? The texture, the oversaltiness… it would get to me. So I’ve stayed away.”

In 2022, Chestnut shattered the previous popcorn-eating record by downing 32 servings, each weighing 24 ounces, surpassing the former mark of 28.5 servings set in Las Vegas the year before.

Now, this Memorial Day, the competitive eating legend is heading to Rural King in Terre Haute, Indiana, for a record-breaking spectacle you won’t want to miss. The Memorial Day Popcorn Challenge will take place at 4651 South US Highway 41, where Chestnut will attempt to break his own official world record for popcorn eating.

The event runs from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, with food trucks, live music, and family games leading up to the main attraction at 1:00 PM, when Chestnut takes center stage.

“This event is about bringing fun to our communities,” Phil Reiter, Rural King Vice President of Marketing and E-commerce, said. “Our free popcorn has always been a fan favorite, and partnering with Joey Chestnut, the best in the world, is the perfect way to celebrate that tradition.”

Famous for his 16 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest wins and more than 55 competitive eating world records, Chestnut is ready to see how much popcorn he can devour in just eight minutes.