PMB man conquers chilli bites

CHRIS Morton is officially the hottest man in the province after proving that he definitely can take the heat by conquering capsicums with courage. 

Last week the 48-year old fire-eater from Pietermaritzburg left a trail of scorched tongues in his wake, surviving 14 jaw-dropping rounds of the Chilli Pod Eating Contest at the Great East Coast Chilli Festival. 

When the flames settled Morton was crowned the 2025 Chilli Pod Eating Champion and his name will be emblazoned on the coveted championship belt. 

“You've got to be a bit strange, you’ve got to be a bit crazy to do this,” he told the Independent on Saturday this week. 

By no means a chilli rookie, he has taken on some of the country's most fiery chilli competitions. “This is my fifth time entering and my second win,” he said. “I’ve been competing since 2021, at different venues and under different organisers. I missed 2024 because I was overseas, but I came back ready.”

Organisers say that as sweat, tears and noses ran uncontrollably, paramedics were on standby to douse any chilli-induced flames. 

However, Morton was never in danger and didn't even have smoke wafting out of his ears. 

In the run up to the competition, he followed a tough three week chilling conditioning routine, working his way up from mild habaneros to “superhots” all while gardening, painting and tilling through the tongue tingling torture. 

“I only need three weeks because I can start off on the hot stuff. But if you're just a normal person you'll probably need a bit longer, let's say two months. During those three weeks I start off on something that's really hot for most people, like a habanero, and I just keep on getting hotter and hotter and hotter until I get to the superhots. And then, when I can eat at least four of them in a row without suffering too much, I eat them and I go work in the garden.” 

He says it's all about distracting the brain. “The pain is real, but if your mind knows what’s coming, you can override it.” 

And he has a dire warning for future chilli champions, “Don't do it while you're driving. It's too dangerous. Most people will crash their car.”

However, it's not just about having the toughest tummy in town. Morton’s way of life had turned him into a chilli ninja. His karate-trained body, clean eating, zero alcohol, obsessive attention to gut health puts him a burn above the rest. “Your gut is your second brain,” he said, “and mine’s in top form. I’m probably fitter than most 25-year-olds - actually, make that 18-year-olds,” he said. 

However, blazing a trail to the chilli championship has not been without heat. To test his tolerance for a previous competition he ate a ghost chilli on an empty stomach and it burnt like hell.

“I was down for two or three hours, rolling on the floor in total agony. I ran a bath of ice-cold water. I put ice in it and just lay there for two hours,” he said. 

Organisers of The Great East Coast Chilli Festival say that apart from the chilli eating contest, they also held an ‘Awesome Sauce’ Competition, the Crazy Korean ‘Speed Wings and Ramen Challenge’, and the ‘Kadipore Farms Hot Pani Puri Challenge’.

And in partnership with Titanium Media South Africa (TMSA), they’ll be launching an e-commerce store for vendors and chilli entrepreneurs to provide resources that support a local and international distribution platform for local chilli products.