INTERVIEW: Greg "The Savage" Wilson Talks Food Challenges, Competitive Eating, and Hobbies
- Michael Vale
- 3 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Greg "The Savage" Wilson is a competitive eater, ranked #28 in the world by Major League Eating.
The top of the Major League Eating leaderboard leans young. Joey Chestnut. Patrick Bertoletti. Matt Stonie. Most of the names competitive eating fans know are in their late 20s, 30s, maybe early 40s. It’s a physically demanding competition, and competitors may reach their peak earlier in their careers.
The biggest stage in competitive eating is the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island. Getting there means winning a regional qualifier, which is the path many top MLE eaters work toward. For competitors, that kind of event represents the ceiling of what competitive eating can offer: the cameras, the crowd, the flag-draped stage.
Then, at #28, there's Greg Wilson, age 55.
Wilson competes as "The Savage." He lives in Austin, Texas. And his story is unusual in all the right ways.
He didn't come up in the sport young. He started doing local food challenges at restaurants around North Carolina in 2017, when he was 46 years old. He was good at it. Really good. Good enough that when he moved to Texas in 2019 and signed up for his first MLE event in Austin, he walked in and ate 125 Hostess Donettes in six minutes.
For anyone unfamiliar, Donettes are the little donuts sold at gas stations. They're small. They're also dry, dense, and basically sugar in donut form. Eating 125 of them in six minutes is something most people couldn't do in an hour.
Three weeks later, MLE offered him a contract. He took it. That put him on the same circuit as eaters who had been doing this for years.
The "Savage" part came from a friend. Wilson had a habit of ditching the fork and shoveling food in with his hands to go faster. His friend told him he ate like a savage. Wilson leaned all the way in.
He put the name on his YouTube channel, SAVAGE EATING. Sixty-plus videos. A few thousand subscribers. It's mostly Wilson traveling around and taking on an unimaginable amount of food:
⦁ A 14-pound pizza at Brooklyn Heights
⦁ Four pounds of bacon at Black Bear Diner
⦁ 120 mini donuts in six minutes
⦁ A 7½-pound BBQ platter called the Chuck Norris
⦁ The Largest Steak in Texas
He also wears sunglasses indoors in some of the thumbnails.
Not every challenge has been smooth. Bebo's 8-pound burger in particular is one he still has opinions about. (More on that below.)
At home, Wilson is apparently a completely normal guy. He's married, likes Mexican food, and watches a lot of Netflix with his wife, along with working out, traveling, and caring for two Italian Greyhounds. The eating career would be hard to guess from the outside.
Below are Greg's answers to a few questions about how any of this happened, the nickname, that Bebo's burger, and the one eater he'd love to line up across the table from.
FCN: How did you get involved in the world of competitive eating?
Greg: I started doing local food challenges in North Carolina in 2017 and was very successful.
I moved to Texas in 2019 and entered my first MLE event in Austin that year, where I ate Hostess Donettes. I ate 125 in six minutes. Three weeks later, I was offered my first MLE contract, which I took!
FCN: Where did your nickname "The Savage" come from?
Greg: I started using my hands instead of a fork or spoon to complete my food challenges. One of my friends said I eat like a savage, and that's how it started.
FCN: What food challenge has been the most difficult for you?
Greg: Bebo’s 8-pound burger and fries. They didn’t really weigh it, and I wasn’t a big fan of the burger. I was told afterward that they ground up hot dogs and mixed them into the beef.
Also, I swear I had to eat three pounds of fries.
FCN: What are five things you like to do outside of competitive eating?
Greg: Spending time with my wife, working out, eating a good meal (I love Mexican food), watching Netflix with my wife, traveling, and enjoying our dogs. My wife and I have two Italian Greyhounds.
FCN: If you could compete against any celebrity or professional eater, who would you pick and what food?
Greg: Most definitely Matt Stonie, by far. Food: hot dogs. I'd also love to do a video with L.A. Beast. A crazy gauntlet food challenge, and I'd let the Beast design it!
Photo credits: Greg Wilson.