Pack your bags, because The Amazing Race is back for its 30th season! Every week, Parade’s Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with the team most recently eliminated from the race.

The Amazing Race is comparable to the most worldly 12-course meal you would ever have in your life. Just like every location the race visits, every dish contains different textures, components and flavors. Perhaps this is what Tim Janus meant when he said his and Joey Chestnut’s time was not up yet. They had only sat down at the table for five courses and, true to their competitive eating nature, they were ready for more. Unfortunately, their navigational troubles and struggles on a Van Gogh Detour meant they could go no further.

Phil Keoghan spoke to Joey’s notoriety when he presented him with a hot dog at the starting line. But he was saying anything but, “Hot dog!” when the teams touched down in Iceland, and he realized the physical endurance required for the race was as vast as the Icelandic landscapes through which they were driving. Keeping up with the other strong teams had Joey quite literally sweating the small stuff. When the race had them change continents, they got lost in the winding streets of Morocco searching for a Travelocity gnome that was under their nose. They also struggled with directions of a different magnitude when they were too distracted with belly dancing during the Detour to search for the name of the next Pit Stop. Despite all of this, they still finished in sixth place, though they had learned to perhaps not listen to their gut all the time. When the teams went back to Europe, they performed nicely in Nice, and it seemed like they were, much like the balls they threw during the Head-to-Head, on a roll. Leaving in fourth place on the next leg, they were hoping this would be the start of a new era of dominance for “Team Chomp.” But they did not take stock in a medieval Roadblock to put them behind, as Tim struggled to construct a trebuchet in the Les Baux province. Despite his mistakes, they were still able to leave in second-to-last place. They elected to choose the “Colorful” Van Gogh puzzle for what would ultimately be their final Detour, deterred by the extreme cardio that seemed to go with the other option of wrangling ribbons off of artificial bulls. It was that choice, along with once again getting lost and struggling to discover the way to ultimately reveal the clue that put them behind Trevor Wadleigh and Chris Marchant and ended their race before they could make it any frank-further.

With Tim unable to join us due to travel, Joey talks with me about why he chose Tim as a partner, the danger of being the only team at a task, and how much he lamented not running more and eating less.

What exactly prompted Joey Chestnut the competitive eater to go onto The Amazing Race?

The traveling. That’s what makes my job great. I love to eat internationally and do eating contests everywhere. Traveling around, meeting people, and doing different things. I think the traveling is what drew me into The Amazing Race years ago. It’s an amazing competition, and I’m so happy [I got to participate].

You and Tim used to be competitors that then became friends. How did you guys end up partners?

I sought him out. I applied years ago, and they reached out me again recently. I had a free schedule during filming, so I thought, “Oh my God, I need a partner.” Tim was my first choice, because I know he’s a super competitor; he hates to lose. He’s crazy smart. And he’s in better shape than me, so he was going to push me hard.

On that note, we saw a lot on the show about the physical elements and how they seemed to affect your performance greatly. Was that accurate to what was actually happening?

(Laughs.) People don’t know how much running there is on this show. I watched the show for years, and I didn’t realize there was that much running. I really should have taken running more seriously, and it was hard. When we were at [the diamond Detour in Belgium], we ran from [the SkyClimb Roadblock], and we were the first ones there. But we ran so fast that I was sweating like a madman. It took 20 minutes before I could actually help [Tim] out, and that slowed us down. It’s eye-opening that I’m not as fit as I thought as I was. If I’m going to compete against other people in physical activity, I have to be more prepared.

You said you wanted to bring Tim on because he could motivate you. Was he able to do just that?

He pushed me, and there are certain times when he pushed me too hard. But I think it’s fine. In Saint-Tropez, we did a lot of running, and we were starting to hit our stride in how we communicated, how he pushed me, and how we made decisions. I made the right choice in him as a teammate.

I want to go in-depth into what would ultimately be your final leg. In the Roadblock, you were placed in a compromising position and helpless to watch Tim ignore the finer details of the trebuchet. Is that tough to tolerate as a partner?

Yeah, that was torture. Knowing that even if I motivated him, there could be a penalty. Especially after Cedric and Shawn had a penalty when it didn’t even look like Cedric was trying to help him, I think everyone was really scared to make sure they didn’t get any penalties. It’s tough because the other teams were finishing and I would see the problems when Tim was getting [the trebuchet] checked. Usually, in life, you don’t have to hold back. If somebody’s making a mistake, you get to tell them, “Hey, you’re making a mistake!” It’s so weird not to be able to tell somebody they’re messing up.

Those issues seemed to carry over into the car. You guys struggled regarding navigation on this leg, as well as in Morocco. Is driving another element that doesn’t translate from the player to the viewer?

Navigation was tough. There are different types of navigation; there’s the driving, and then there’s just seeing things. You mentioned Morocco; we really should have seen that gnome when we went into the room. It was clear as day, and it’s hard. You’re in a strange place, and you’re trying to accomplish this task while not to be rude to people. And you miss things.

After the leg in Morocco, you guys vowed you would work on some things. What did that entail specifically?

After Morocco, we slowed down. The big thing was making decisions together. We made some really poor decisions early on, like who was doing the zip line [in Iceland] and who was doing what Roadblock. In Saint-Tropez, we slowed down and thought, “Okay, who can do this Roadblock?” We also looked at the maps when we were going around Saint-Tropez. We didn’t get lost that much. I think slowing down and thinking a bit really paid off. When we were doing the sailing, we knew we weren’t in last place or close to last place. So we didn’t have that weird pressure. I know after we did the trebuchet Roadblock, we knew we were close to last place, and we knew we make bad decisions when we’re close to last place.

Speaking of those decisions, what made you decide to go with the “Colorful” side of the Detour? At any point in time, when you had difficulties getting there, did you contemplate switching?

It was rough. The way we read the clue, [we thought] there were a certain number of flags in the arena. We knew we were towards the [back], and we thought it would be really hard to find the flags if all the other teams had gone there. It was, in some scenarios, right. But in this case, apparently, there were lots of flags. Since it was in the center of town, and not off to the side, like the Van Gogh puzzle, it would have been really easy to find that arena. But we made a poor decision. Part of it was that it was more physical and we decided right there that we could probably do a puzzle better than running around. And we got lost on the way to the puzzle; then we couldn’t understand the puzzle. We had it solved; it was just a matter of pulling out that stupid bolt [on the easel]. That bolt should have been spring-loaded when we moved all the pieces in the right place. It would have been done so much faster if we had just figured out how to pull the bolt up.

How long were you at the puzzle, between figuring out the concept, trying it out multiple times, and finally pulling on the bolt?

Maybe 30 minutes, which is a long time.

You talked about this pressure you felt after the Roadblock, but I’m sure there was also the pressure of being the only team at the task. What does that feel like, knowing there are no other teams around and you’re therefore not sure where you stand in the race?

It’s unnerving in a couple of ways. Watching so many episodes of the show, you know there’s usually one Detour that’s harder than the other or faster than the other. We were worried that we took the one that was longer and we’re in a bad place. When you’re the only one doing a task, you’re all by yourself. Nobody in production is going to help you if you have any questions. When there’s another team there, you can figure it out together with four sets of eyes working around something. If there were another team working on it, somebody would have realized the bolt and everybody would have been faster. But being the only team, you’re at a disadvantage in several ways.

Speaking towards the others, which teams were you closest with?

We hung out with Indy Car and Team Extreme. Those teams are awesome, great people, and extremely competitive. Team Extreme is smart and, beyond just being competitive, they were serious. I was always impressed with them. They’re an amazing team.

Were you guys disappointed that you never got to eat anything in bulk as a task on the race?

Oh my God, yeah. What a bummer! (Laughs.) Sometimes you get to eat some cool food in awesome countries. I was bummed out. I should have planned on running more, instead of eating. (Laughs.)

You talked in the very beginning about why you wanted to pick Tim as a teammate. Did you learn anything about him as a partner and a person working with him so closely on the race?

He’s a thoughtful person. He sees things when he interacts with people and has a ton of empathy. He can tell when somebody’s giving him bad directions or doesn’t understand him. He reads people very well, and he reads me well. He can tell if I’m confident, if I’m lazy, or if I have more in the tank. He reads people really well, and he was a great partner.