Leah Shutkever
Leah Shutkever left her lucrative day job as an interior designer to become a competitive eater – and although it sounds unbelievable, she’s now one of the best at it in Europe. Perhaps inspired to change careers thanks to her mother Esther, who worked as a chef, Leah now holds dozens of Guinness World Record titles, boasts hundreds of thousands of followers, and has even been on television thanks to her unique skills.
Born on 11th May 1990, near Birmingham, England, Leah is multiracial, with some online sources claiming that she’s of Egyptian, Native American, Guatemalan, and Swiss Italian descent on her maternal side, with additional Irish, Russian and English ancestry through her father.
After matriculating from Solihull College, the brunette began studying a three-year Bachelor of Architecture degree at Birmingham City University, and graduated in 2014. Almost immediately, Leah delved into the workforce as an architectural assistant for TKA Space Studio, a position which she held until 2015, when she joined the team of Eos Interiors as a design manager.
Upon leaving Eos Interiors in 2018, Leah began working as a freelance designer for Diligent Design, but two years later, put her career on pause to become a self-employed competitive eater.
Competitive Eating Career
Unlike social media mukbangers – who are often accused of cleverly editing their videos to make it seem that they’ve consumed vast quantities of food when, in reality, they’ve only taken a few bites – competitive eaters are the real deal. How, then, does Leah keep herself healthy?
A foodie since a young age, Leah would often compete with her brother to see who could eat more. However, this led to her becoming overweight and suffering from bullying. During her adolescence, the social media sensation was officially overweight and tried various diets which didn’t work out in the long run, for several reasons.
Thankfully, Leah was able to improve her eating habits and begin bodybuilding at a local gym, which helped her enormously. By following bodybuilder Amanda Turner’s diet and workouts, the weight practically melted off Leah – although her love for food was as strong as ever.
The first time Leah was exposed to competitive eating outside of her home was in 2013, when her older brother, Uri, participated in a food challenge at a local restaurant. When two months had passed and Uri still hadn’t won, he challenged his younger sister who, at the time, was dieting for a bikini competition.
When the bikini competition was over, Leah participated in – and won – the restaurant’s food challenge, and slowly got into the world of competitive eating. The next step was competing in the world championships in 2015 and 2017, and as time passed, the brunette became confident enough in her own abilities to consider leaving her job to dedicate herself to these food challenges.
According to Leah’s Instagram page, she holds 33 Guinness World Record titles at time of writing. These include most spring rolls eaten in one minute, most tomatoes eaten in one minute, and fastest time to eat three pickled eggs. Despite some people not taking the competitive eating community seriously, there are hundreds of interested participants – for example, Leah previously organized an event in which 331 people ate a fish and chip dinner simultaneously while livestreaming their experience.
From mince pies and burritos to chocolate oranges and chicken nuggets, no food is off-limits for Leah. The social media star previously participated in Channel 4’s “Battle of the Super Eaters”, and also lent her talents to the online show “The Belly”, which ran for two seasons in 2021 and 2022. Obviously, her exposure on TV has helped build her platform, and become the best-known female competitive eater in Europe.
According to Leah, she prepares for each challenge by fasting for up to 12 hours beforehand. Depending on the type of food she’s eating, she will then fast for a few hours – or even days – when the challenge is over. At one time, the Englander would participate in a challenge a week, but maintained a healthy and trim physique by eating vegetables, healthy carbs and lean proteins the rest of the time. Naturally, regular exercise is also a vital part of her routine.
Wonder if @ZackSnyder would write a #WonderWoman food challenge into the next movie.. pic.twitter.com/ZWhhXJgItD
— LEAH SHUTKEVER | PROFESSIONAL EATER (@LeahShutkever) April 24, 2021
Social Media Stats/Trivia
Despite launching her self-titled YouTube channel in January 2014, some years passed before Leah’s first upload, “Girl Vs. Randy Santel / 1.5kg Tomahawk Pizza Steak Challenge / Rub Smokehouse”. Her most-viewed video to date is “Food Challenge Vs Worlds Strongest Man EDDIE HALL!”, and consists of her and fellow competitive eater devouring an enormous platter of fish and chips.
With millions of followers spread across various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, Leah is now earning a comfortable living as a competitive eater. The bulk of her income comes from sponsorships, PayPal and Patreon donations, and similar gifts from her longtime followers. Most sources list the content creator’s net worth at $2 million, but Leah herself hasn’t said outright how much money she has in the bank.
Those who don’t follow Leah closely might be curious to know which of her food challenges was the hardest. At a competitive eating world championship, the Instagram star ate a staggering five kilograms of chicken skewers, the most food she had ever consumed for a challenge. In September 2022, she also joined forces with competitive eater Randy Santel to eat a four-kilogram mixed grill of Indian cuisine.
Leah’s favorite competitive eaters are Adam Moran – Britain’s top competitive eater and YouTuber, known for his channel “Beard Meets Food” – and Joey Chestnut, who was born in Kentucky, USA, and currently holds the number-one spot in the International Federation of Competitive Eating.
Regarding Leah’s dating life, she’s believed to be single and focusing on her career. In an old interview with the Daily Mail, the competitive eater divulged that she became interested in nutrition and training thanks to an ex-boyfriend who encouraged her to join the gym and become a bodybuilder. As over a decade has passed, it’s unlikely that the brunette has been single since then, but she prefers not to share details of her dating life with the media.
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