The Untold Truth Of 'Man V. Food'

Man v. Food was a ratings powerhouse for the Travel Channel from 2008 to 2012 and it quickly made the show's host, the formerly unknown Adam Richman, a household name. The recipe for Man v. Food was simple, yet effectively addictive for audiences. It highlighted the world of competitive eating and some of the most famous diner food challenges, all through the eyes and stomach of an amateur (though we're not sure we can still call him that today). I can barely finish three slices pizza and I used to watch the show thinking, "You know, I probably could tackle that 30 pound one." You either loved the show or loathed it, but there's a lot you might not know about Adam Richman and the show that gave him his big break (including how it's getting on without him). Here are all the facts you never knew about Man V. Food.

Richman never formally trained as a competitive eater before he landed the Man v. Food gig in 2008. In fact, he was an actor and Yale drama school graduate who appeared in bit roles on television dramas and soap operas like Joan of Arcadia, All My Children, Guiding Light, and Law & Order: Trial By Jury.

According to a live chat he did with ESPN during Man v. Food's heyday in 2010, Richman stated that he "...went to specialists ahead of time because I wanted to start with a baseline of good health, versus correcting bad health down the road." Richman may have discussed the risks with his doctors, but that didn't stop him from packing on the pounds during the show's four season run.

Most fans of the show tuned in to see Richman plow his way through gargantuan sandwiches and steak dinners, but he couldn't stomach one of the smallest challenges on the show. In Sarasota, Florida, Richman was faced with ten little chicken wings at Munchies 420 Cafe. Called the "Fire In Your Hole," these wings were slathered in a tongue torching brutal mixture of habanero peppers, run-of-the-mill hot sauce, cayenne pepper, chili powder, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic, and ghost chili extract.

Richman had to eat those ten wings in 20 minutes without drinking milk. He was able to eat a couple of the wings before he threw in the towel, guzzled some milk, and ran into the back of the restaurant, spitting in his hands, and holding back tears. Good thing the cameras didn't show us when Adam experienced how the wings got their namesake. Richman didn't feel that bad about losing, the odds were up against him from the start. About 90 percent of those who take the challenge fail.

Still, it didn't hurt that Richman was sabotaged. Since employees were caught using nearly an entire bottle of hot sauce on his small plate of wings, the odds were definitely stacked against him.

Richman has faced off against a ton of different challenges, but at their heart, most fall into two categories: Heat and quantity. The Guardian asked him the question we're all wondering, and that's, "Which would you rather have?"

His answer is more complicated than you might expect. He says heat challenges are easier if the dish uses whole peppers instead of pepper extract. With extract, it's just heat for the sake of heat, instead of a flavor-filled heat. "A good spicy challenge strikes a balance between flavor and fear," he says.

And quantity? He says they're fine, as long as they don't have a lot of starchy ingredients. It's the fried foods, the fries, and the potatoes that makes it more difficult, but says there's always a certain level of discomfort that comes after doing a challenge, no matter what it is.

In 2015, Richman did an AMAA on Reddit and spilled the beans on some of the things fans have been wondering for years.

He says his favorite challenge was Humpy's Alaskan Alehouse's Kodiak Arrest, while his least favorite came with a caveat. That was the challenge he faced at Munchies in Sarasota, Florida, and he says it came in last (in his book, at least) because the owner allegedly cheated — it was a mystery challenge of ghost chili hot wings, and he completely failed.

If you're wondering whether or not doing any of these food challenges permanently ruined a food for Richman, it absolutely has. He told the Mirror there was one challenge in particular that ruined food for him, and it was the 15 dozen oysters of the Acme Oyster House in New Orleans. "After the oyster challenge, ... I think I may have had less than a dozen since. It just turned me off."

What else has Richman choked down without being a fan of? He's said the hardest things he's had to eat was a moose nose in Alaska and jellied eels in London, along with chawanmushi in Japan. (If you're not familiar with that, you should definitely know what it is before you try it: Japan Centre says it's a hot egg custard with prawns, mushrooms, soy sauce, and fish cakes.) He also says he's not a fan of eating anything still alive, as that's a little more fresh than he can stomach.

Alton Brown has been a staple in the world of food-based television for as long as cooking has been popular TV fodder. He's made cooking accessible and understandable to countless people, but he's not a Man v. Food fan for one simple reason: he thinks it's gluttonous.

Brown said how he really feels about the show in an interview with Zap2It (via Eater), and said, "That show is about gluttony, and gluttony is wrong. It's wasteful. Think about the people that are starving to death and think about that show. I think it's an embarrassment."

Those are some harsh words from The Food Network's resident food scholar, and it does make you think about all the food that's been wasted by food challenges on and inspired by the show. But Richman hit back — hard — saying he just doesn't agree. He went to Twitter and said, "Alton Brown: MvF is about indulgence — NOT gluttony — & has brought loads of biz to Mom-n-Pop places. You were my hero, sir. No more. #damnshame"

The end of Man v. Food came with tons of speculation from fans, with many making guesses as to why the show got the boot. But Richman says there are a few different reasons he chose to retire from Man v. Food.

According to what he told The Guardian, the decision was all his — and not the network's. "The simplest way to put it is to say that the spectacle diminishes over time," he told them, going on to say he didn't want to wait for his fans to ask him to do something new. He wanted to be ahead of the game, and quit before it got too boring.

Rumors that he stepped away from the show for his health circulated, but he told the BBC not only was that not the case, but he was shocked at how many "sick people" wanted to believe he'd been forced into retirement by illness.

It's funny to think the dude who would do competitive eating challenges while wearing a T-shirt, flannel, and a jacket would bare it all in a magazine, but Adam Richman wanted to show off his newly fit body in UK's Cosmopolitan in June, 2014.

He was proud of the spread, saying,"To go from hating the way I looked to being a Cosmo centerfold is a profound honor. If you're a guy who's always been the fun-to-be-around teddy bear, then all of a sudden people are viewing you as sexy it's nice."

You never really know what goes into making any TV show or movie, and you know there's a ton that just doesn't make it to the final broadcast. Mark Cohen owns New Jersey's The Chicken or The Egg and was featured on Man v. Food in 2010. He spoke with The Independent about just what went on during filming of the 12-super-hot-wing challenge, and he says it was just as fun as it looked. "Adam made it easy," he told them. "He was very friendly, genuine, and funny."

It was still a long day of filming, and Cohen says the film crew showed up at noon on a Saturday and started filming a ton of the filler footage, kitchen shots, and b-roll stuff. The challenge itself didn't start until 9pm, and by the time they wrapped at midnight, they'd been shooting for 12 hours. That wasn't the end of the day, though, and he says they all just hung out for another three hours.

Cohen also says the publicity was amazing. He hired more staff, and even years later, reruns still send people his way that otherwise wouldn't have stepped through the door.

Soccer is an important aspect of Richman's life and a big reason why he has been able to maintain his impressive 70-pound weight loss, but not only does he suit up to play in celebrity charity matches, and cheers on Tottenham Hotspur, but he also has been the sponsor for an amateur UK-based soccer club called Broadley FC.

The club was formed in 2013 by three friends to honor their buddy, Richard Broadley, a 20-year-old soccer fan who passed away from Leukemia in 2011. Since 2015, Richman has been the top sponsor for the team, paying for their pitch fees, and setting them up with new kits and equipment.

Adam Richman might not like talking about other Man v. Food-caused digestive issues, but he has talked about his tried-and-true method for fighting heartburn. He told Today that it's not about taking care of the problem after it happens but instead, he's all about preventing it in the first place.

"It's all about being proactive," he says. "Everyone thinks I'm just shilling Zantac, but it's really what I use."

Richman is such a fan of Zantac that he did a stint as an official spokesman, and even participated in a 2010 summer tour with the heartburn relief medication (via Chief Marketer). The Travel Channel, and Man v. Food toured along with the Beat the Heat festival, encouraging festival attendees to try a food challenge... and some Zantac for relief.

That's not the only way to be proactive, and Richman says he has a few other tricks up his sleeve. He drinks a ton of water to prepare for something he knows is a heartburn risk, and gives drinks like coffee and soda a pass. Now you know!