My burning passion as chilli champ
SHAHINA Waseem is the World Champion Chilli Eater – and there isn’t a man or woman alive who can take more spice.
The Londoner has competed in nearly 100 chilli-eating competitions and never been beaten.
She said: “It all started as a bit of a fun but in the last 11 years it has grown and grown. I started off winning my first and thinking I’d like to get to 10 wins and now here I am. I’ve never lost and now I would like to get to 100.”
Shahina’s spicy journey started as a girl. She said: “My dad used to eat chillies and I’d ask why he did it when they would make his eyes water and his head sweat. But he said they brought a nice kick and now I understand.”
She first entered a chilli-eating contest while at university. She said: “We went to a food festival and my friends all urged me to join in. I was known for carrying hot sauce in my bag. So I did – and I won.
“At the end there was just one big man and me left and we ran out of hot chillies. But neither of us wanted to admit defeat.
“So they gave us some red-hot sauce and the pain was excruciating. I managed to swallow the whole spoonful. He didn’t. He managed half and was just being sick everywhere.” Shahina, of Uxbridge, west London, then went up and down the country, winning every contest she entered.
She said:
“In 2019, I was approached by The League Of Fire, the only world-ranking website for chilli eaters, asking me to compete against Johnny Scoville, an American chilli champion.
“They flew him over to Guildford and I won our battle. I was then invited to compete against chilli champ Atomik Menace in California.
“To raise money for the trip I did a live sponsored challenge on my YouTube channel to my 20,000 subscribers and became the only woman in the world to eat 105 Carolina Reapers – the world’s hottest chillies – in one sitting.
“That September, I flew to the States and beat Atomik Menace, though it was the toughest challenge of my life.”
Shahina will compete at the Foodies Festival in Brentford, Middlesex, from May 27 to 29. Day tickets for the event, known as Gastro-Glastonbury, cost £3 for a child and £19 for an adult.