Shahina Waseem is a world champion competitive chilli eater from

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

, Middlesex. As at November 2023, she had an unbeaten streak consisting of 97 consecutive wins in chilli eating competitions in the UK, USA and Belgium. She ranks second in the Official League of Fire (LOF) world ranking, which recognises “the best of the best chilli heads on the planet”.

Personal life

Waseem’s parents moved to the UK from Pakistan before she was born. She studied mechanical engineering with aeronautics at

Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...

. After graduating in 2004 she started a property letting company.

Competitive chilli eating

Waseem’s first competitive chilli eating competition was in 2012 at the

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Food Festival. Her favourite pepper is the Thai

Bird's eye chili Bird's eye chili or Thai chili ( owing to its shape) is a chili pepper variety (botany), variety from the species ''Capsicum annuum'' that is native to Mexico. Cultivated across Southeast Asia, it is used extensively in many Asian cuisines. It m ...

. Of competitive chilli eating she said, “it’s a form of extreme competitive sport which is not affected by age or gender.” After her third win, in 2015, she described the experience of competing as ““the pain from my lips, mouth and throat being on fire, ear drums feeling like they were about to explode, face muscles twitching involuntarily, hands shaking uncontrollably, shivers, chills and shakes and violent body tremors... followed by muscle spasms and cramps and heartburn.” In 2019 she competed against, and beat, US champion, Johnny Scoville in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

, UK. She then flew to America and competed against, and beat, Dustin “Atomik Menace” Johnson. In order to raise the funds for the trip she ate 105 Carolina Reapers in one sitting; the only woman to have ever done this. Of the 71 competitions she had entered by 2021 she had “failed to throw up afterward about 11 times, which means you get the dreaded cap cramps: gastric distress caused by

capsaicin Capsaicin (8-methyl-''N''-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) (, rarely ) is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus ''Capsicum''. It is a potent Irritation, irritant for Mammal, mammals, including humans, and produces ...

in the GI tract.” In 2021 she was the world record holder for the most consecutive wins at chilli-eating competitions with 81 consecutive wins. The person ranked second behind her at that point had 8.

Other chilli-related activities

Waseem features on the labels of two bottles of chilli sauce made by The Chilli Project: ''Killer Queen Chug Challenge'' and ''Killer Queen 2 Chug Challenge''. In 2022 she partnered with GymBox to create a chilli-based workout system based around capsaicin, the active ingredient in chilli, and its ability to increase body temperature and oxygen consumption. She hosts chilli eating competitions, including the ''World

Halal ''Halal'' (; ) is an Arabic word that translates to in English. Although the term ''halal'' is often associated with Islamic dietary laws, particularly meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines, it also governs ethical practices ...

Food Festival'' at the

London Stadium London Stadium (formerly and also known as the Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford, London, Stratford district of London. It is loc ...

in September 2023.

TV and book appearances

* ''Food: Truth or Scare'' (

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

) Series 5, episode 3. Aired 22 July 2020 * '' Game of Talents'' (ITV) Series 1, episode 2 where she took on DJ

Jordan North Jordan Levi North (born 14 February 1990) is a British radio DJ and television presenter from York, England. Since April 2024, he has been the host of ''Capital Breakfast'', and formerly hosted lunchtime and drivetime shows on BBC Radio 1. In ...

in a chilli eating competition * '' Good Morning Britain'' (ITV) July 2019 In 2021 Waseem was interviewed for two books: * *

External links

League of Fire website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waseem, Shahina 1979 births Living people Competitive eaters English competitive eaters Alumni of Brunel University London People from Uxbridge