Joey Chestnut won’t be competing in this year’s Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, and at least one person associated with the event is sick to their stomach.
George Shea, the boisterous host of the annual contest, said Chestnut’s decision to sign a deal with Impossible Foods — which will keep him from competing in Major League Eating Nathan’s festivities — has felt “like a gut punch.”
“It is like a gut punch,” Shea told the New York Times on Tuesday after The Post first broke the story of Chestnut missing this year’s contest. “To me this is a tradition; it is about New York; it is about the Fourth of July. But maybe that’s just me and not what this is like for everybody.”
Chestnut decided to agree to the deal with Impossible Foods, which will prevent him from competing in MLE’s event in Coney Island that’s become one of Independence Day’s iconic events.
The 40-year-old has been almost unbeatable on July 4, winning the event 16 times, including every single one since 2016.
Three of those 16 wins came against Takeru Kobayashi, who had previously won the contest six times in the early 2000s.
Kobayashi, coincidentally enough, had his own problems with MLE and has not competed at the Nathan’s contest since 2009 after he had a dispute over his contract.
With such dominance, Chestnut’s absence will be looking losing a superstar, according to Shea.
“It would be like back in the day Michael Jordan coming to Nike, who made his Air Jordans, and saying, ‘I am just going to rep Adidas too,’” Shea told the Times. “It just can’t happen.”
Chesnut finally opened up about not competing this year, saying that he was “gutted” that he won’t be competing in New York this year.
“I love competing in that event, I love celebrating America with my fans all over this great country on the 4th and I have been training to defend my title,” Chestnut wrote on X.
The prodigious eater said he does not have a deal with MLE or with Nathan’s.
A source told The Post’s Steve Cuozzo that Chestnut was paid $200,000 to appear in the 2023 contest and was offered a $1.2 million, four-year contract.
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