December 12th 2024.
After finishing his delicious pies, Michael Chant decided to make his way to his son's Nativity play. Little did he know that just a few hours later, he would be crowned as the new world pie-eating champion.
At the event held in Wigan, Manchester, Michael, aged 43, devoured a meat and potato pie in an impressive 17 seconds, beating the previous record holder Martin Appleton-Clare's time of 23 seconds. The pies for the competition were generously supplied by Noel Radford, the star of Channel 5's '22 Kids and Counting'.
After receiving his trophy, Michael, who hails from nearby Bury, expressed his excitement, "I've been wanting to compete for a while now, but unfortunately, Covid put a halt to it for a couple of years. So this was my first opportunity to enter the competition again." He further added, "When I saw that the previous record was 23 seconds, I knew I could probably eat two pies in that time. I had been practicing and was able to finish them in 12 seconds, but I guess these pies were a bit bigger."
Michael's victory was not an easy one. He initially finished his first pie in just 15 seconds, but due to some filling falling on the floor, he had to eat a second one to secure his win. Unfortunately, two contestants were disqualified for eating too slowly.
This year's pie-eating contestants were truly passionate about their craft. It was evident in the way they devoured the pies with such determination. As a proud dad, Noel Radford, who also happens to be the father of 22 kids and star of '22 Kids and Counting', supplied the pies for the competition.
Michael, who is already planning to participate in the next year's championship, revealed that he shared his technique with the other contestants, hoping for an even more competitive battle next time. "I just picked up the pie and ate it from my hand. But my secret is to slap the bottom of the pie to lift it from the foil and spin it around. This way, you can eat it much quicker," he revealed. He also added, "I can't wait to watch my son's Nativity play and let him know that his dad is a world champion."
The competition wasn't without its fair share of drama. Two competitors, Dave Johnson, aged 54, and Gareth Jones, aged 49, both from Wigan, were disqualified for eating the pies too slowly. They believed that the pies were just too tasty to rush through.
Tony Callaghan, the organizer of the championship, commented, "There were scandals all over the place - we had pies from outside Wigan, a winner not from Wigan, and I even dropped the trophy. But besides that, it was a highly successful event, and we love having something like this just before Christmas." Tony, who runs Harry's Bar, which hosts the championship every year, also revealed his plans to send a meat and potato pie to Hallstatt Memory of Mankind in Austria.
The competition, which has been a tradition in Wigan since 1992, is a celebration of the locals' love for pies. Some say that the nickname 'pie eaters' originated from the local miners who would 'eat humble pie' after returning to work during the general strike in 1926. With Michael emerging as the new world pie-eating champion, the tradition continues to live on with even more fervor and enthusiasm.
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