Joey Chestnut reflects on return to hot dog eating contest after contract dispute, temporary ban

The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2 years agone was antithetic successful that it was missing the top competitory eater of each time.

Joey Chestnut, a 16-time victor of the event, was not eligible to participate in 2024 aft helium signed a woody with Nathan's rival Impossible Foods. Chestnut was inactive connected the outs months earlier the 2025 contention erstwhile helium announced that helium and the organizers had recovered communal crushed connected sponsorships. 

That brought Chestnut, present a 17-time victor aft taking the loop again past year, backmost to Coney Island.

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Joey Chestnut wins the men's contention astatine Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest successful New York City connected July 4, 2025. He returned to vie for a 17th triumph aft missing the 2024 lawsuit owed to a sponsorship quality with Major League Eating. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

"It was great. The assemblage is awesome, it's electric. It's bully to beryllium backmost aft mending immoderate fences," Chestnut precocious told Fox News Digital. "I bash what I love. I got the champion occupation successful the world. I get to eat, travel, bushed the heck retired of people, and conscionable blessed people. So it was large to beryllium back."

Chestnut's instrumentality to the expansive signifier was, well, grand. Credit is owed to Patrick Bertoletti, who downed 58 dogs and buns successful Chestnut's lack to instrumentality location the rubric 2 years ago. But Chestnut hasn't posted a fig that "low" since 2010. And portion the Coney Island Nathan's inactive had a decent crowd, it doesn't comparison to erstwhile Chestnut is connected stage.

For the top of each time, though, it was ne'er astir a comeback — conscionable winning and celebrating Independence Day.

"It's ne'er astir me. It's not adjacent astir the blistery dogs. It's the Fourth of July. It's an eating contest, but really, it's a Fourth of July celebration, it's a solemnisation successful New York. And that contest, it's hard to picture exactly," Chestnut said.

Joey Chestnut prepares to vie successful the men's contention astatine Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest successful New York City connected July 4, 2025. He returns to vie for a 17th triumph aft missing the 2024 lawsuit owed to a sponsorship quality with Major League Eating. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

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"It's an event, it's much than conscionable an eating contest. It's portion of the Fourth of July solemnisation for New York City, and I'm conscionable a precise small portion of it. And erstwhile it comes to that celebration, I'm precise blessed that I was capable to travel backmost and beryllium portion of people's Fourth of July."

Chestnut won his archetypal rubric successful 2007, taking down the dynastic eater that was Takeru Kobayashi. Since then, he's won 17 of the past 18 events helium has competed in. Matt Stonie pulled disconnected an upset successful 2015.

In his instrumentality to Coney Island, Chestnut downed 70 blistery dogs, an betterment from the 62 helium ate successful 2023. So clearly, determination are nary signs of slowing down. But Chestnut knows clip is ticking, and helium wants to marque the astir of it.

"When I was younger, I could summation value and past suffer it truly quick. Now, it's a batch much work, but I inactive emotion it. And I cognize my body," Chestnut said. "But arsenic agelong arsenic I'm competitive, arsenic agelong arsenic it's fine, and I'm healthy. I'm going to beryllium involved. I was conscionable talking to a feline who, he's 58 years aged and he's been doing this since I got started. And truthful he's inactive capable to bash it. I'm like, 'All right, I tin bash this.' I got a mates much years, and we'll see."

Joey Chestnut wins the men's contention astatine Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest successful New York City connected July 4, 2025. He returned to vie for a 17th triumph aft missing the 2024 lawsuit owed to a sponsorship quality with Major League Eating. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

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"It truly is, like, I truly consciousness similar it's 1 of the champion gigs that determination is. I get to travel, eat, and, dude, it's the funniest thing," Chestnut said. "After I bash this eating, I'm each sweaty, greasy, messy, and past radical privation to instrumentality pictures with me. It's the funnest happening successful the world."

"As agelong arsenic I can, I'm gonna beryllium doing it."

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