Tim Janus Dies: Eating Competitor Known as Eater X & ‘Amazing Race’ Alum Was 49

Tim Janus, an eating competition staple known as Eater X, has died at the age of 49 after a battle with cancer. Janus, who competed with Joey Chestnut on The Amazing Race Season 30, rose through the ranks of competitive eating and was at one point the second-best in the world, behind Chestnut. Janus was known for competing with a Viking mask painted onto his face.

Janus died on September 16 due to complications from his illness. His death was confirmed by his publicist to Major League Eating on September 20. The statement says he fought a “long battle with cancer.” Janus had recently been accepted into the United States Foreign Service and received an assignment abroad, but his illness interrupted his plans.

Janus had a lifelong love of game shows and was successful on several of them. In addition to The Amazing Race, he was the largest winner in the history of Cash Cab and was also a winning contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Janus was inducted into the Major League Eating Hall of Fame in 2026. At the time, he said, “I tell people that I learned a lot about life by eating hot dogs, and I mean it. If you care about something and work hard at it, it makes you better.”

“Tim followed his own passions and dreams without regard for the pressures or expectations of society,” Crazy Legs Conti, Janus’s former roommate and a former world oyster-eating champion, said in a statement. “He was unique, brilliant, and beloved by his friends. He lived his life on his own terms.”

Janus was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, on December 31, 1976. He grew up in Connecticut and attended college at Southern Methodist University, where he studied political science and public policy. In adulthood, he lived in New York City’s East Village.

“Janus possessed a highly distinctive view of life and an appetite for the unusual that extended well beyond the competitive eating table,” his obituary reads. “He sought out experiences with an almost deliberate disregard for the conventional. Among other adventures, he tracked crocodiles and snakes in the wild in Australia, milked a cow, and appeared as a television weatherman on an evening news broadcast. He was a talented whistler, with an eclectic repertoire ranging from Neil Diamond to the Hartford Whalers fight song, in his opinion the best team song ever.”

Janus is survived by his mother, Lucinda Hannon, father Peter Janus, stepmother Nancy Janus, and his sister, Tess McNair. There will be a Celebration of Life for Janus in New York City in October.