Joey Chestnut beat his longtime nemesis Takeru Kobayashi by gobbling down a record 83 hot dogs and buns to Kobayashi’s 66 on Sunday, during Netflix’s live Las Vegas special Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef.
There was also a side of personal drama hanging over the match-up: The co-hosts of the live event were comic actor Rob Riggle and Nikki Garcia — days after the husband of the latter, Dancing with the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev, was arrested for domestic violence.
There was no mention of the situation on-air, but Garcia wasn’t wearing her wedding ring.
Chestnut and Kobiyashi used to go head-to-head during Nathan’s annual hot dog eating contest every July 4 — with Joey finally beating Kobayashi in 2007.
However, a contract dispute between Kobayashi and Major League Eating saw him banned from the competition since 2010, clearing the way for Chestnut to dominate virtually unchallenged since.
In June, MLE banned Chestnut from the July 4 contest due to his decision to endorse vegan hot dogs instead of Nathan’s.
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