It's been more than a decade since Adam Richman left "Man V. Food," but there's
one challenge that still to this day makes him sick just thinking about it.
Of all the foods to overwhelm Adam Richman during his time on the show, milkshakes at first seemed
to be the most innocent. While visiting Crown Candy Kitchen in St. Louis, Missouri,
he was challenged to take on one of the oldest food challenges in the country that just over
50 people have achieved in the past century: drinking 15 shakes in less than 30 minutes.
Richman soon found himself swamped by the sheer amount of sugar and dairy in
the beverage. Even though he got to choose the flavors himself,
and implemented a tactic of mixing each shake so it had a thinner, more milky consistency,
it became increasingly tough for him to swallow each beverage.
With just four drinks to go, nausea got the better of Richman,
who then had to hurry to the bathroom. Not only did this mean he was disqualified,
but the episode had to be censored — and the eyes of nearby children covered — as the milkshake
decided to make a reappearance before Richman could make it to the toilet.
One of the most infamous moments on "Man v. Food" happened in Sarasota, Florida,
where Adam Richman took on Munchies 4:20 Café's Fire In Your Hole Challenge. This
involved finishing 10 chicken wings drenched in an über-spicy sauce that included extract
of ghost pepper, certified to be 170 times hotter than Louisiana-based Tabasco sauce.
Richman ended up bailing out of the challenge after just two wings,
fleeing to the walk-in freezer with a glass of milk in hand. But it was later revealed that
he was set up to fail. In a 2017 appearance on Hot Ones, he claimed the cafe sabotaged him by
using an entire bottle of ghost pepper extract. Richman was less upset about the loss than the
unquestionably dangerous methods used to make it happen. As he explained to host Sean Evans,
the wings caused his tongue and nostrils to swell by the time he made it to the bathroom.
"The reason why I'm mad is not because of my record. I don't
give a s--- about that. It's that it's cavalier and dangerous."
In other words, if you're looking to follow in Richman's footsteps by completing some
of the challenges he's done, this is one you should skip — because the restaurant cheats.
Milkshakes once again threatened to be Richman's downfall during the Colossal
Challenge at Chick & Ruth's Delly. Tasked by the Maryland diner with consuming a 6-pound vanilla
milkshake and a 1.5-pound turkey and highly salty corned beef sandwich in less than an hour,
he dove straight into the milkshake without a straw — only to get blindsided by a brain
freeze as the blood vessels in the roof of his mouth began to constrict.
"Right now it's too cold to go on. I've got a little bit of brain freeze right here.
I'm gonna let this melt for a little bit, work on the sandwich for a bit."
Fortunately, it was only a minor setback. An undeterred Richman waited for the epic
brain freeze to subside before trying a new strategy: chewing a little bit of sandwich,
followed by a few sips of shake. He managed to beat the challenge with just 10 minutes
to spare — becoming only the third person out of hundreds to attempt to finish it.
Spice led to one of "Man v. Food's" best outtakes while Adam Richman was filming
season four in New Mexico. Midway through his opening monologue in an Albuquerque field,
Richman fell foul of that voice in your head that encourages you to act upon your wildest
impulses — fearlessly biting into a pepper that ended up being much spicier than he expected.
After a beat of silence, Richman threw his head back in horror as the spice set in. As is the case
with practically all his spice-related challenges within the show, he managed to handle the fiery
kick pretty well — but judging by the look on his face, his shaking hands, and the desperate,
silent "Why?" he lobbed to the sky, he still suffered pretty badly for this particular mistake.
There's spicy food, and then there's food that is so mind-numbingly spicy
it stings your fingers as well as your taste buds. In the Hellfire Challenge,
Adam Richman faced both. Not only did he have to eat all 12 of the fiery hot wings
presented to him at San Jose's Smoke Eaters Hot Wings, but he specifically had to do so
without gloves so he could lick the sauce from his hands once he was done. Yikes.
Halfway through the challenge, Richman appeared to be in the midst of an existential crisis. In
his own words, "each finger was like licking fire." But then the torture really began:
five minutes of waiting. No relief, only time. Once he'd gnawed each wing down to the bone,
he was forced to sit through an "afterburn" period where
he was banned from washing his face or hands or drinking water. Richman said,
"With nothing to soothe my molten mouth, I drifted to the very brink of unconsciousness."
"MY FACE IS ON FIRE!!"
The meat sweats get the better of all dedicated carnivores at some point — especially if
you're trying to devour an 8-pound grilled sirloin steak. While visiting Puerto Rico,
Adam Richman attempted to do just that as a part of the Sleeping Cow Challenge,
which gave him 40 minutes to finish his steak as well as its accompanying mountain of sides.
This kind of meal doesn't go down too easy, especially when combined with the humid,
sticky Caribbean climate. It all became too much for Richman, who had to temporarily pause
his efforts to dry off with some paper towels. Richman found himself losing so
much water from his body that he struggled to find the saliva necessary to swallow his food.
While Richman ate most of the steak, he only finished about half of the fries. So dire
was the situation that he even admitted that if he'd ever given
any serious thought to becoming vegetarian, this was the time.
"The meat sweats are, are so real. They are so, so, oh man."
When Richman decided to retire from competitive eating in 2012, Casey Webb stepped in to take his
place. After heading to Allan's Authentic Mexican Restaurant in Portland, Oregon,
Webb took on the Diablo Burrito Challenge — the name given to the task of downing a
2.2-pound burrito filled with 10 of the hottest chili peppers in the world. Unsurprisingly,
this was no easy feat, especially when Webb developed the dreaded hiccups.
"He looks in a really bad way!"
These only got worse as Webb tried to power through the burrito itself. Although he managed
to finish half of the burrito in five minutes, the combo of pain and hiccups — which seemed
to only get worse with every sip of water — put him at a disadvantage. Flushed, sweating,
and struggling to breathe, Webb's time ran out with a third of the burrito remaining.
Dairy is a recurring threat in the world of "Man v. Food." It claimed yet another victory
in Kentucky's Comfy Cow Ice Cream Challenge. As was the case with all of the show's fourth season,
this episode saw Adam Richman take a step back from competitive eating and instead
coach local recruits to win over-the-top food challenges. This time, the unlucky participant
was warehouse custodian Joseph "Burrito Joe" Nikolai, who attempted to finish a 7.5-pound
ice cream sundae comprised of 15 scoops of The Comfy Cow's famous ice cream, as well as fruit,
whipped cream, and a quarter-pound of nuts. He had to down it all in just 60 minutes.
Richman's expert advice was to keep a strong pace and liquidate the ice cream as much as possible.
This got Nikolai off to a good start, and he cleared a pound of ice cream in a matter of
minutes without suffering from brain freeze. But sadly, this steady speed ended up being
Nikolai's downfall. While he managed to finish the entire sundae and its toppings, he promptly
vomited the whole thing back up — forcing the Travel Channel to cut to a screen apologizing
for "experiencing digestive difficulties" — which meant that the food, not man, won the challenge.
When Casey Webb sat down to attempt the 29-Inch Pizza Challenge in Lebanon,
Illinois, he brought Ryan Maassen — a former champion who conquered the
same challenge 10 years earlier — along for the ride. However, even the combined efforts
of two stomachs weren't enough to overcome a surprisingly stubborn obstacle: cheese.
Everything started strong for the pair, but the cheese on the pizza hardened as it cooled,
making it much tougher to swallow. As if struggling to force down increasingly dry
crusts wasn't enough, the toppings also caused a logistical nightmare as the green peppers, onions,
black olives, mushrooms, and pepperoni began to slide off each slice when the challengers
moved on to the crust-free inner pieces. While they later implemented additional
strategies — such as standing up to digest the food more quickly — the pair were
a few slices short of finishing when their allotted 30 minutes came to an end.
"You didn't win, so you're not going to get a t-shirt,
and you're not going to be in the hall of fame."
Throughout his 85-plus episodes of "Man v. Food," Adam Richman proved himself to
be relatively impervious to heat. However, a visit to Orochon Ramen in the Little Tokyo
district of Los Angeles pushed him to the limits of his considerable spice tolerance.
In just 30 minutes, Richman had to finish a 2.2-pound bowl of the restaurant's Special
No. 2 — a ramen soup made up of a secret spice mix and chopped jalapeños. What started as a
strong attempt soon devolved into a fiery nightmare. Once Richman was done with his
noodles, he downed the remaining broth, and tears gradually began
to stream down his cheeks. It looked like he might not be able to make it after all.
Weaker men would have thrown in the towel then and there, but, miraculously,
Richman powered through. Against all odds, he managed to drain every drop of ramen,
earning himself a well-deserved spot on Orochon Ramen's Wall of Bravery.
One of "Man v. Food's" most memorable mishaps is still ongoing to this day. Back in season one,
Adam Richman traveled to New Orleans,
where Acme Oyster House dared him to eat a mind-boggling number of oysters — 180,
to be precise — a challenge that an average of five out of six competitors failed.
With the aid of some lemon and hot sauce, Richman guzzled down the oysters like a champ in just
21 minutes and ended the challenge surrounded by towers of plates and empty mollusk shells.
However, it turns out that the challenge didn't end when Richman left the French
Quarter. Nearly 10 years after the episode first aired, Richman made a guest appearance
on "The Premium Pete Show," where he admitted that he's struggled to eat oysters ever since.
"After the oyster challenge in New Orleans, which was over half a decade ago,
I think I may have had less than a dozen since. It just turned me off."
"Just even thinking about it makes me feel some kind of way. Ugh!"
Considering the sheer amount of food he consumed during his time as a competitive eater,
the shocker isn't that Richman can't stomach oysters anymore,
but that there aren't more foods on that list.
Adam Richman isn't just a self-proclaimed, lifelong gastronaut; he's also a diehard fan of
the New York Yankees. That's what made the stakes so personal in season one's Eagle's Challenge,
where he tried to chow down a 5-pound burger with 20 slices of bacon and cheese,
5 pounds of fries, and a giant pickle more quickly than his competitor. His goal:
avoid losing and being forced to wear an "I Love Boston" shirt.
Unfortunately, Richman was out-eaten by former Eagle's Deli and Restaurant employee, Chuck
Whittall — who, as a Boston Red Sox fan, would've been forced to wear an "I Love New York" t-shirt
if he lost. Weighing their leftovers, it was revealed that Richman had eaten six ounces less
of his burger and fries, meaning he had to change into his new shirt then and there. Richman didn't
exactly look pleased about having to do so, but he at least begrudgingly shook his rival's hand
before covering his face while taking a picture for Eagle's Deli and Restaurant's Wall of Shame.