Joey Chestnut Wins 17th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Title in Coney Island Return

Joey Chestnut returned to the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island and won his 17th title by eating 70 hot dogs and buns.

The event two years ago lacked Chestnut, the greatest competitive eater of all time and a 16-time winner at that point. He sat out the 2024 contest after signing a deal with Nathan's rival Impossible Foods. Months before the 2025 competition, Chestnut announced he had reached an agreement with organizers on sponsorships.

Chestnut took the title again last year with 62 hot dogs. Patrick Bertoletti won in Chestnut's absence by eating 58, Chestnut's lowest number since 2010.

"It was great. The audience is awesome, it's electric. It's good to be back after mending some fences," Chestnut told Fox News Digital. "I do what I love. I got the best job in the world. I get to eat, travel, beat the heck out of people, and meet happy people. So it was great to be back."

Chestnut won his first title in 2007 by defeating Takeru Kobayashi. He has won 17 of the last 18 events he entered, with Matt Stonie upsetting him in 2015.

"It's never about me. It's not even about the hot dogs. It's the Fourth of July. It's an eating contest, but really, it's a Fourth of July celebration, it's a celebration in New York. And that contest, it's hard to describe exactly," Chestnut said.

"It's an event, it's more than just an eating contest. It's part of the Fourth of July celebration for New York City, and I'm just a very little part of it. And when it comes to that celebration, I'm very happy that I was able to come back and be part of people's Fourth of July."

Chestnut said keeping in shape takes more work now. "When I was younger, I could gain weight and then lose it really quick. Now, it's a lot more work, but I still love it. And I know my body," he said. "But as long as I'm competitive, as long as it's fine, and I'm healthy, I'm going to be involved. I was just talking to a guy who, he's 58 years old and he's been doing this since I got started. And so he's still able to do it. I'm like, 'All right, I can do this.' I got a couple more years, and we'll see."

"It really is, like, I really feel like it's one of the best gigs that there is. I get to travel, eat, and, dude, it's the funniest thing," Chestnut said. "After I do this eating, I'm all sweaty, greasy, messy, and then people want to take pictures with me. It's the funnest thing in the world."

"As long as I can, I'm gonna be doing it."