THE chilli-eating champion of the Great East Coast Chilli Festival is no rookie.

Royce McCain ate 12 super-hot chillies on the day, finishing off with the hottest chilli in the world, which is the Carolina reaper. The event was held at Northwood Crusaders Sports Club recently.

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Originally from Durban North, McCain said his tolerance for the hot stuff started at a tender age.

His dad often grew chillies in the garden, specifically the African bird’s eye or devil’s chilli as its known by many, and McCain, being a very naughty lad, used to get chillies rubbed in his mouth now and then.

The first chilli he ever ate was the African bird’s eye which grew freely in McCain’s garden. He was about eight years old at the time, and he recalls it being very hot.

He entered his first chilli-eating competition in 2019 at The Butler Ranch in Drummond and has entered three chilli-eating competitions to date – two of which he won and the other for which he came second place – not by giving up but only by losing a speed round.

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When McCain heard about the Great East Coast Chilli Festival through a chilli fan Facebook group and family, he knew he had to be there.

“This chilli festival – I didn’t prepare for it as well as I should have. Normally, I would eat numerous super-hot chillies, measuring one-million Scoville heat units or more, at least once a week, in one sitting, to keep my tolerance level at its peak, but I hadn’t eaten any chillies for about four weeks or so. I had a lot more nerves going into this competition just because of that,” he said.

He said he did, however, prepare his mind for it. He stayed focused and told himself that he will win it. Once the competition started, he felt in the zone.

His latest win earned him a cash prize of R1 500, a bottle of champagne with delicious peanut butter chilli fudge, a chopping-board trophy, a sauce hamper from Wushini Chilli, and an 18-pack of two-ply toilet paper.

“Toilet paper is so expensive, so that will go to good use. I must say though, I don’t get ring sting after these competitions,” he laughed.

“It feels absolutely awesome to be the first chilli-eating champ of the first chilli festival in Durban, especially since Durban North is my hometown. I wanted to be able to set the standard for future competitions. I will, however, be retiring from competing in these chilli-eating competitions due to the health risks, and I have proven to myself numerous times that I can do it. To top it off, it’s better to retire when you’re on top,” he said.

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