Speed eater Leah Shutkever proud to be "breaking the mould" as she earns two new records

UK speed eater Leah Shutkever is absolutely smashing it – and says she’s proud to be “breaking the mould”.

We caught up with her as she stopped by Guinness World Records HQ in London to claim two sweet new record titles.

She added the most jelly snakes eaten in 30 seconds (130 g; 4.58 oz) and the most strawberries eaten in one minute (313 g; 11.04oz) to her collection.

When we asked the social media star how she got into this line of work, she told us: “I started breaking records in a really interesting way.

“I started a YouTube channel and I needed content for it and I was a fast eater, and I found this Guinness World Records title for the fastest time to eat a Chocolate Orange and I unofficially broke it on my channel.

“I was then contacted by a TV show who asked me if I wanted to go on to try and break it for real, and I did.

“That led to another and another and another and here we are 40 records later.”

The 34-year-old added: “It’s interesting when you look at competitive eating and what people think a competitive eater looks like.

“I think we’re definitely breaking the mould more recently with having different types of people doing food challenges.

“There’s just no 'one size fits all' when it comes to food challenges. You’re either good at it and you do it or you don’t, and I’m just very proud to be part of the whole thing.”

The jelly snakes (or gummy worms if you’re American) attempt came as a surprise to Leah, who had no idea which records we had lined up for her to try.

Adjudicator Dave Wilson broke the news to her and Leah admitted: “I’m scared.”

She added: “I know it may seem silly to a lot of people but this is terrifying stuff to me – I want to do this right.

“I have a lot of pressure on me and I can confidently say that I have never eaten this many jelly snakes in 30 seconds ever in my life.”

Leah had to beat a minimum of 90 g to claim the title.

And of course, she absolutely smashed it, chowing down 130 g.

Moving on to the strawberries, Leah had to eat at least 270 g of the fruit to win the title.

She emptied the bowl provided to her with time to spare.

“That was delicious,” she said. “I love strawberries.”

As well as speed eating challenges like these, Leah also has a big following on socials like TikTok where she posts clips of herself taking on gigantic meals.

On how she prepares, she said: “Psychology comes into it so much more than your physical ability.

“And delusion, practising delusion, because that is definitely a solution.”

Leah says that despite what people may think, she can enjoy the food she’s eating despite it going down so quickly.

But don’t be fooled, there’s a lot more to Leah than meets the eye.

When asked what she wishes people knew about her, she confessed: “I wish people knew that I have a degree in architecture, because I lived a whole life before I became a competitive eater.”

“I’m a multi-faceted person,” she added with a giggle.