Erik the Electric
Food challenge YouTuber who films himself finishing huge meals, entire restaurant menus and 24-hour to multi-day calorie challenges, often in the tens of thousands of calories.
Lifestyle · YouTube · Updated Oct 25, 2026
Erik the Electric is a San Diego-area YouTuber known for extreme calorie challenges, from 10,000-calorie burgers to eating the entire menu of a restaurant. His real name is Erik Lamkin, per Cal State San Marcos, where he graduated in 2017, and his main YouTube channel, which calls him the “World’s Hungriest Man,” has about 5.4 million subscribers and more than 977 million views. In 2019 he posted a new challenge every week, per Times of San Diego; since January 2025 the main channel has posted four long videos, the newest on August 1, 2026. He has not quit: that August video passed 7 million views, and he also runs a second channel, a vlog channel with his longtime girlfriend Kristie called The Electrics, and a TikTok with about 1.7 million followers.
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Questions people ask
Who is Erik the Electric?
Erik the Electric is Erik Lamkin, a YouTuber who films food and calorie challenges. He got the nickname in high school, per Cal State San Marcos, and Tubefilter reported in October 2019 that it came from his love of electric guitars. His first big challenge, per Times of San Diego, was one he had seen on Man v. Food at a Broken Yolk restaurant in San Diego: he set the location’s record and the manager offered him a job on the spot. He moved his channel to food challenges only in 2017, and Tubefilter reported that his average video went from about 20,000 to 200,000 views within six months. His channel now has about 5.4 million subscribers, 1,032 videos and more than 977 million views.
Did Erik the Electric quit YouTube? Why did he stop posting, and is he still making videos?
No, as of October 2026 Erik the Electric has not quit YouTube, but he posts far less often than he used to. In 2019 Times of San Diego described him taking on a new challenge every week. Since January 2025 his main channel has posted four long videos: I Ate The Biggest Foods on the Internet for 10 Days on February 25, 2025; I Survived The World’s Heaviest People’s Diets for 7 Days on August 9, 2025; I Let AI Control Every Meal for Two Weeks on January 17, 2026; and I Ate The Entire Menu At Ghost Kitchens For 100 Hours on August 1, 2026, which had about 7.2 million views by October 25, 2026. He has spoken about the gap on his second channel (next question). He has not announced retiring from challenges.
What happened to Erik the Electric in 2025 and 2026?
Erik the Electric has addressed his time away from the main channel in videos on his second channel, ErikTheElectric IRL, rather than in press. On October 30, 2024 he posted Explaining My Absence From YouTube, described as “Getting some things off my chest.” On September 18, 2025 came A New Beginning.., whose description credits meet footage to a photographer. On May 3, 2026 he posted Addressing The Problem I Can’t Ignore Anymore, whose description opens with “Decided to make some changes..” and includes a high-protein pizza crust recipe. We have not verified what he says in these videos, so we do not characterize his reasons. We found no report about him in a major news outlet in 2025 or 2026.
Is Erik the Electric still alive?
Yes, as of October 2026 Erik the Electric is posting: his newest main-channel video went up on August 1, 2026, and his second channel posted on May 3, 2026. We found no report of his death in any major news outlet.
What happened to Kristie and Erik the Electric? Did they break up, and is he married?
As of October 2026, neither Erik the Electric nor Kristie has announced a breakup or a marriage in anything we could source, and no outlet we accept has reported either. Kristie, who goes by KristieTheElectric, co-hosts The Electrics, a channel the two opened on August 19, 2018; Cal State San Marcos reported in 2019 that their first date was a July 2018 video of a five-pound burger challenge, and Famous Birthdays lists her as his girlfriend. What is public since: The Electrics’ newest upload is from May 14, 2025. Kristie started her own channel, Kristie vs. Life, in November 2024; it posted Surprising Erik For His BIRTHDAY!! on September 11, 2025 and Explaining our absence... on March 15, 2026, whose description does not give a reason. Neither has said more on the record that we found.
Why does Erik the Electric eat so much, and why is he not fat?
Erik the Electric eats huge amounts because food challenges are his job: “It was a hobby that turned into my career,” he told Cal State San Marcos in 2019. Outside challenges, he said then, he eats mostly chicken and vegetables, trains very regularly and gets blood work every three months, and would stop if his health declined. He told Times of San Diego the same year that he is a cyclist and powerlifter who spends about two hours a day in the gym, and Tubefilter reported he rode four times a week. The challenges still take a toll: Tubefilter reported that after his 100,000 calorie challenge, his biggest video at the time with more than 8 million views, he nearly needed a hospital visit and dealt with weight gain and fatigue.
Why does Erik the Electric hate carrot cake? What is his Wow Sauce?
Erik the Electric has not explained a dislike of carrot cake, or published a Wow Sauce recipe, in any interview or video description we could source, so we do not guess. If he does on the record, this entry will add it.
How old is Erik the Electric? What is his real name?
Erik the Electric is 33, born September 1, 1993, per Famous Birthdays. His real name is Erik Lamkin, as printed by Cal State San Marcos, Times of San Diego and Tubefilter in 2019. He has not published his height or weight, and we do not guess.
Where is Erik the Electric from? Where does he live?
Erik the Electric grew up in the San Diego area of Southern California. Cal State San Marcos says he grew up in San Diego, Famous Birthdays lists San Marcos, California, and Tubefilter reported in 2019 that he moved to Southern California from Chicago as a child and lived in San Diego. He graduated from Cal State San Marcos in 2017 with a degree in communication. He has not published a current city since, and we do not list home locations.
Where can I watch Erik the Electric?
Erik the Electric’s challenges are on YouTube @ErikTheElectric, with short versions on TikTok and Instagram @eriktheelectric. His second channel, ErikTheElectric IRL, covers lifestyle, fitness, food and nutrition, and the couple’s vlog archive is on The Electrics. Merch is at eriktheelectric.shop.
What is Erik the Electric’s net worth?
Erik the Electric does not publish a number and neither do we.
Is Erik the Electric natty, a Republican, or lactose intolerant? Who is he dating?
Not something we cover.
Who represents Erik the Electric?
As of October 2026, no agency or manager is named for Erik the Electric on his YouTube About page, which links to his merch store, Instagram and X. In 2019 he told Cal State San Marcos that a YouTube network approached him at about 100,000 subscribers, without naming it. Ames Create does not represent him; we cover him because people keep asking whether one of YouTube’s biggest eating channels has stopped, and the upload record answers most of it. If that changes, this entry will say so.
Our read
Ames Create does not work with Erik the Electric. This is our view, from a team that works on creator brands for a living.
The format. One man against a mountain of food, a running calorie count, and a deadline: 24 hours, a week, 100 hours, or a whole menu. The titles do the selling (the entire menu, the biggest diet, the world record), and the payoff is watching a normal-sized, fit guy finish what should not fit.
Why it travels. Calorie numbers and brand names are instant hooks, so his videos travel on search and recommendation long after upload. Even at four long videos in almost two years, the August 2026 ghost kitchen video passed 7 million views in under three months, and Shorts such as the 10,000 calorie burger with fitness YouTuber Will Tennyson keep the TikTok and Shorts audience warm between drops.
Brand fit. Fast food chains, restaurant groups, delivery apps and snack brands are the natural fit, since his format already features them by name. Fitness and nutrition brands fit his second channel. The catch is cadence: with long gaps between main uploads, a brand should plan around a single big video rather than a weekly series.
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Sources: Erik the Electric’s YouTube and About page, ErikTheElectric IRL, The Electrics, TikTok and merch store; videos YFS3E8EiOT8, LkNO9erQ82Y, i3q5uZmvky8, VDQb4O3UF9A, Ggr7SHijDiU, LPumkZGcHvQ, loLhVDmTads and The Electrics, May 14, 2025; Kristie’s Kristie vs. Life videos PfPqdZ2ZoSM and zawMxhQr9_c; Cal State San Marcos, October 2019; Times of San Diego, November 2019; Tubefilter, October 2019; Famous Birthdays. Subscriber counts read from YouTube and the TikTok count from TikTok, October 2026; follower counts via Social Blade, October 2026.
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