Eric Booker

Eric Booker
Booker at the 2010 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest
Personal information
NicknamesBadlandsChugs, Badlands Booker
Born (1969-06-21) June 21, 1969 (age 57)
Queens, New York, U.S.
OccupationCompetitive eater
Years active1997–present
Height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Weight400 lb (181 kg)
SpouseRegina Booker
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–present
Subscribers3.68 million
Views445 million
Last updated: April 1, 2026[needs update]

Eric James "Badlands" Booker (born June 21, 1969), also known by his online pseudonym BadlandsChugs, is an American competitive eating athlete, rapper, and YouTuber. He holds seven Major League Eating recognized world records, three Guinness World Records, is a four-time Nathan's Lemonade Chugging Contest champion, and competed in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every year from 1997 to 2018.

Biography

By age 20, Booker began training his chug skills and training to compete in food championships. Booker lives on Long Island, he’s 6 ft 5+1⁄4 in (1.96 m) tall and weighs 400 lb (180 kg).

He appeared on America's Got Talent in 2025.

Competitive eating career

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest results

2020 Contest 20 5th place
2018 Contest 20 21st place
2017 Contest 22 T-14th place
2016 Contest 25 12th place
2015 Contest 24.5 9th place
2014 Contest 25 9th place
2013 Contest 21 15th place
2012 Contest 25.5 12th place
2010 Contest 24 T-12th place
2009 Contest 30 T-10th place
2008 Contest 25.5 11th place
2006 Contest 24.5 9th place
2005 Contest 22 T-10th place
2004 Contest 27 T-5th place
2003 Contest 29 3rd place
2002 Contest 26 2nd place
2001 Contest 22 T-7th place
2000 Contest 20 T-10th place
1999 Contest 17 10th place
1998 Contest 18 2nd place
1997 Contest 17 8th place

Booker trains for competitions by trying to stretch his stomach and develop jaw strength. He eats large amounts of fruit and vegetables and drinks gallons of water in a sitting position in order to stretch his stomach and chews over 20 pieces of gum at a time to build jaw strength. He maintains that competitive eating is a healthy sport and has lost weight since he began competing. As of 2022, he is ranked 27th by the IFOCE. Booker is also known for his YouTube channel, BadlandsChugs, in which he primarily performs soda chugging challenges, including Mountain Dew, Sprite, Gatorade, and milk. In 2019, over the span of a year, his YouTube channel amassed over 3 million subscribers.

Nathan's Lemonade Chugging Contest (2021-present)

At the 2021 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, Booker won a lemonade drinking contest by consuming one gallon of lemonade in under 40 seconds. He captured his second lemonade chugging contest title in 2022, and repeated in 2023, setting a record of 23.08 seconds. In 2024, he continued his lemonade-chugging winning streak, breaking his 2023 record with a time of 21 seconds.

For the 2025 contest, Booker drank a gallon and a half of lemonade. He drank a gallon of lemonade in 21 seconds to capture his sixth consecutive title in 2026.

Accomplishments

Some of Booker's accomplishments include:

  • Burritos: 15 BurritoVille burritos/ 8 minutes
  • Candy bars: Two Pounds Chocolate Candy Bars / 6 minutes
  • Cannoli: 16.5 cannoli in six minutes / 2004
  • Corned Beef Hash: 4 pounds of hash / 1 minute 58 seconds
  • Cheesecake (Mini): 50 Mini-Cheesecakes / 6 minutes
  • Doughnuts: 49 glazed doughnuts / 8 minutes
  • Hamentaschen: 50 Hamentaschen / 6 minutes
  • Matzo Ball (Ben's Deli): 21 baseball-sized (half-pound) matzo balls / 5 minutes, 25 seconds / 2003
  • Matzo Balls (Ruthie & Gussie's): 30 matzo balls / 5 minutes, 25 seconds
  • Raw Onions: 8.5 ounces Maui Onions (three onions)/ Whalers Village / 1 minute/ August 8, 2004
  • Peas: 9.5 one-pound bowls / 12 minutes
  • Pumpkin pies: 4+3⁄8 Entenmann's Pumpkin Pies / 12 Minutes/ November 22, 2004
  • Lemonade: Nathan's Famous chug contest / 1 gallon lemonade / 21 seconds / July 4, 2024
  • In May 2021, he set the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to drink two litres of soda (18.45 seconds).
  • In June 2022, he set two more Guinness World Records, drinking 1 liter of soda in 6.8 seconds and 1 liter of tomato sauce in 1 minute and 18 seconds.

Music career

Since 2004, Booker has performed and recorded competitive eating themed hip-hop as Badlands Booker, and he frequently performs selections from his albums at competitions. Besides his own nine albums, Booker has also made guest appearances on albums by Jendor and Loser's Lounge. Much of the music used on his YouTube channel is created by himself and his son Brandon Booker (OKHIPHOP).

Discography
Title Year
Hungry & Focused 2004
Hungry & Focused II: The Ingestion Engine 2005
Hungry & Focused III: The Reframing 2006
Hungry & Focused IV: Fork, Knife & Mic 2007
Extended Play 2009
Surf & Stillwell 2010
Big Man Mentality 2011
Surf & Stillwell 2 2017
Surf & Stillwell 3 2018
Big Man Mentality 2 2019

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Eric "Badlands" Booker". majorleagueeating.com. Major League Eating. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Eric "Badlands" Booker". majorleagueeating.com. International Federation of Competitive Eating, Inc. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "YouTuber chugs litre of Mountain Dew in 6.8 sec to break record". Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  4. ↑ Stein, Sam; Cherkis, Jason (July 2, 2015). "One Very Large Man's 18-Year Quest For Hot Dog Eating Glory". huffpost.netblogpro.com. BuzzFeed, Inc. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Results from The 2018 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest". majorleagueeating.com. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  6. ↑ "The Seattle Times: Food & wine: Eating champs to chow down at Everett wingding". Archived from the original on April 10, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2010. Eating champs to chow down at Everett wingding by Brian Alexander
  7. ↑ Archived August 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine The Totally Earnest Eater by Pat Gee
  8. ↑ "Rankings". majorleagueeating.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  9. ↑ "BadlandsChugs - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Eric 'Badlands' Booker wins inaugural Nathan's chug contest". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  11. ↑ Darney, Caroline. "Eric "Badlands" Booker won the Nathan's lemonade chug and celebrated with a massive burp". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  12. ↑ Chayes, Matthew (July 4, 2023). "Nathan's hot dog eating contest: Joey Chestnut wins again; Long Island's Eric 'Badlands' Booker sets lemonade-chugging record". Newsday. Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 15, 2023. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Eric 'Badlands' Booker set a new record in the Nathan's lemonade chug and roared into the microphone". For The Win. July 4, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  14. ↑ Live Walking NYC. "World Record Attempt! Eric "Badlands" Booker Chugs 2 Gallons of Lemonade!". youtube.com. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 International Federation of Competitive Eating, Eater Profiles: Eric Booker. Copyright 2004. "International Federation of Competitive Eating - IFOCE". Archived from the original on December 26, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  16. 1 2 Amy's Robot (blog) Robot-on-the-Spot: The World Cheesecake Eating Championship. Archived November 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ Nogg, Ozzie (April 2005). "Matzah ball-eating contest proves mother was right; Eric Booker cleans his plate, eats 21 matzah balls in five minutes". The Jewish Advocate.
  18. ↑ "Ruthie & Gussie/Empire Kosher Matzo Ball Contest". majorleagueeating.com. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  19. ↑ Darney, Caroline (July 4, 2024). "Eric 'Badlands' Booker set a new record in the Nathan's lemonade chug and roared into the microphone". For The Win. USA Today. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Fastest time to drink two litres of soda". Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Selden's 'Badlands' aims for Nathan's title". Newsday. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  22. 1 2 "Badlands Booker". Spotify. November 6, 2020. Archived from the original on October 4, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.