By now, more than 25 million people can attest to Ethan Mueller’s Whataburger feat: In about 20 minutes, the 16-year-old from Allen, Texas, pounded a 10-patty burger, surrounded by a sea of cheering friends and Whataburger employees. Since the act was, of course, posted to TikTok — and reposted a gazillion times — practically the whole world knows about Mueller’s new record. We caught up with him to learn the backstory, plus a few things you may not know about the kid who’s now affectionately known as “burger boy.”

Q: What on Earth possessed you to eat a 10-patty burger?

A: Every Wednesday, a group of us from church meet up at Whataburger for dinner. A few weeks earlier, our youth pastor, Logan Howard, told us that when he was in high school, he ate seven patties in one night. My buddy sent me a text that said, “If you can beat him, you’ll get a lot of church cred.”

Q: But why TEN? Why not just beat him with eight patties?

A: I like to one-up people in a very major way. If I’m going to beat them, I don’t want to do the bare minimum, I want to go up and away with it.

Q: Have you ever done anything like this before?

A: I do eat a lot, but I think the closest I’ve ever gotten was a couple of big steaks.

Q: While you were eating the 10 patties, did you ever consider giving up?

A: I did feel like I should maybe rest a little bit. I didn’t, though, because I knew I needed to do it in under 20 minutes.

Q: How did you feel afterward?

A: Pretty good. But I didn’t eat anything for the rest of the day — well, until I went to bed and woke up and ate some breakfast.

Q: The number of social media views is unbelievable! Have you been surprised by all the press?

A: Yeah, I was. I only told a couple of my friends about my plans ahead of time. I’m in the Criminal Justice program at Collin College, and when I walked into class the next day, a few people held up big Whataburger signs. And now the head pastor at our church recognizes me and calls me “Burger Boy” whenever he sees me.

Q: Would you do it again?

A: For money, yes! But I think 12 is the most I would ever eat.