Following the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Championship, Nick Wehry, the husband of the women’s division champion Miki Sudo, is being accused of cheating.
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Sudo’s husband, who was also a men’s division contestant, but didn’t win, is being accused of using sleight of hand trickery during the annual event to “inflate” his tally of how many hot dogs he ate.
Sources close to the situation say the move was to make him among the event’s top contenders. He came in fourth place at this year’s high-profile contest. “100% he cheated,” one source stated.
The media outlet reported that on the day of the event, Nick Wehry had a score of 46.75 hot dogs when the event’s officials called it out. This number was good enough for fourth place.
However, the number jumped to 51.75 on the official Major League Eating (MLE) results website. He was allegedly given credit for five full hot dogs more than he was actually served at the event.
It was further noted that the contestants’ scores are tallied based on the number of empty playtes stacked in front of them when time is up. Any crumbs or “debris” left on the plates is left to the judges to determine if there’s a deduction or not.
Pat Bertoletti was dubbed the new male champion after eating 58 hot dogs and buns within 10 minutes. Sudo, also the “Empress of Eating” scored first place after eating 51 hot dogs and buns. She also beat the woman’s previous record.
Nick Wehry is Also Accused of ‘Stealing Plates’ During the Contest
Nick Wehry is also being accused of “stealing plates” from other contestants to pull his score up above 50. While the score didn’t pull him past fourth place, he still made the threshold as being a major contender.
“There’s a number of people who have eaten 40 hot dogs in this competition before,” another source shared. “There’s a lot fewer who have eaten more than 50, and even fewer who have eaten over 60. For someone to have on the record that they ate more than 50, makes you part of a very small elite club of competitive eaters.”
The men’s second and third-place finishers, Geoff Esper and James Webb, put away 53 and 52. They took home $5,000 and $2,500.
Although he landed in fourth place, Nick Wehry walked away with $1,000.
An insider further suggested that Wehry had asked for a recount following the initial judge’s tally. “I can only assume he demanded a recount after stealing the plate,” the source said.
Nick Wehry has responded to the allegations, telling the New York Post, “If MLE determines I was miscounted then fix my number. My placing did not change if this was the case. I would never want to take a placing or number I didn’t earn. I would never cheat at a contest, regardless of why. People that know me know that.”