A biography for Joey Chestnuthasn’t been written yet.
“Military caregivers play an essential role in the recovery process of our veterans and are more than deserving of our support.”
“I think my body was built to eat 68 hot dogs. It's natural.”
“When I started doing contests, I didn't look at it as a sport, but when I realized I was looking at it that way, I had to acknowledge it as a sport.”
“So now I'm 'the hot dog guy,' which isn't bad. I take it in stride. It's not like it was my goal in life. I'm having fun with it.”
“Winning tastes pretty good.”
“I lose now and then. I get lazy. And sometimes I work just hard enough to win.”
“I think food brings people together, and it makes people happy.”
“There have always been a lot of critics of competitive eating. You can be a critic of anything. It's easy to be a critic. You can say negative things about golf, the amount of water wasted on golf courses. Or NASCAR. There are wastes in everything.”
“They don't sell the Nathan's hot dogs hardly anywhere in the West Coast. So I have to special order them, and I just end up getting Nathan's to ship them to me.”
“I'd never eaten lobster before. I was 21. I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I was scooping guts. But I tied for third. And the two men who beat me didn't look good. One was Bob Shoudt. He seemed in pain. And I felt fine! I was 'Oh, my God, they look like they're dying. And I can eat so much more!' I knew I was made for it after that contest.”
“It doesn't get old. Just like running doesn't get old to people who like to run. I just love to eat.”
“I think the traveling is what drew me into 'The Amazing Race' years ago.”
“I'm getting paid to eat. It's not too bad of a life.”
“I have the greatest job in the world, and my life revolves around my love for food - particularly devouring hot dogs.”
“I can't tell you all my secrets to how I can eat so many. Someone out there might copy it. But I will tell you this: The night before the competition, I sleep only four hours. That means when I actually do eat, my stomach will want to digest the food quicker.”
“Honoring our nation's heroes and their caregivers is a cause very important to me - especially on Independence Day.”
“My weight does fluctuate, and there are extreme highs and lows in my blood sugar, so there is some worry about diabetes.”
“I'm getting older, and I'm smarter about how I eat.”
“I'm lucky. My parents are, like, super hippies. They were just happy I was going to school and I wasn't getting in trouble.”
“There have been times when things get stuck in my throat, but you just work it up or down. Like how a swimmer probably can't imagine drowning - their bodies are so used to being in the water. I'm so used to shoving things down my throat.”