"I would never ever cheat. I don't want to earn a number I didn't get. I apologize if that happened," Nick Wehry tells Inside Edition.
The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, an American Fourth of July tradition, is being rocked by scandal a week after the big event.
An article published by the New York Post says a contestant cheated by adding five hot dogs to his tally that he never ate.
Patrick Bertoletti won the competition, eating 58 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Nick Wehry came in fourth after eating 51 hot dogs, but at least two officials associated with the competition reportedly began to suspect Wehry of cheating after watching a video.
The winner of the competition is determined by the number of empty plates in front of each contestant. Each plate holds five hot dogs. Wehry is accused of swiping an empty plate from the competitor on his right, adding five more hot dogs to his tally.
In the video, Wehry can be seen handling the plates but it is not conclusive that there was some sort of switch that occurred.
"I would never ever cheat. I don't want to earn a number I didn't get. I apologize if that happened," Wehry tells Inside Edition.
Wehry is married to the reigning champion in the women's division, Miki Sudo. She ate 51 hot dogs at the same July 4th contest, breaking the world record.
Eating more than 50 hot dogs puts competitors in the upper echelons of competitive eating.
Wehry has asked officials to adjust his score down five hot dogs to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
