'I burned my eyebrows, hand, head and arm while practicing.'
A pizza restaurant boss is making £2 million for his more than impressive flaming dough acrobatics.
Hakki Akdeniz won the top prize at the World Pizza Championship in Las Vegas 2010 – which he used to stop his store from closing.
This is a big step up from his first competition in 2005, which saw him get viciously booed for dropping the pizza.
The self-professed pizza legend spent up to two hours each day learning his dough-spinning craft via YouTube tutorials, burning his eyebrow, arms and head when he introduced fire.
Thrilling footage shows the 44-year-old launching a 22-inch pizza on fire into the air and spinning it with his bare hands as flames engulf the dough.
Being thrust into the spotlight has helped the dad-of-two amass a $2million fortune, launch a restaurant empire and fund charitable work helping the homeless.
Hakki, from New York City, New York, US, said: ‘I covered the dough in flammable material, lit it and then flung it into the air. It’s dangerous. If it went in my eyes I would go blind.
‘I burned my eyebrows, hand, head and arm while practicing, it took me months to perfect it.
‘When I did the flaming dough trick at the competition I burned my left arm. One of the lady judges screamed “oh my God, that guy’s burning”.
‘It’s dangerous but everything in life is dangerous. I’ve made $2million from my pizza acrobatics and now have more than 20 restaurants.’
Turkish-born Hakki’s pizza acrobatics success was a long time coming, having spent up to two hours daily for five years practising spinning dough, much to his flatmate’s despair.
Hakki said: ‘I had no idea about spinning pizza until 2005. I was invited to the competition that year and saw these people spinning dough like crazy.
‘They were flipping pizza in their hands, behind their shoulders, their backs back, under their legs and even two at the same time. I remember thinking “these guys are crazy”.
‘I’d never done it before. I just had a go, I dropped all the dough and I lost. Everyone was making fun of me and a couple of people booed me, it felt shameful.’
Hakki vowed to reign supreme at the competition one day.
He said: ‘Every night I used to take a pizza dough home and practiced one to two hours a day, learning from YouTube.
‘If I could win I could become a citizen. I re-entered the competition every year, it took me five years to get it.
‘I did become champion, I did become a citizen and my friend still doesn’t have his papers.
‘I opened my first shop in 2010 and was about to close my place, the flaming dough saved everything.’
Thanks to his competition success, Hakki’s reputation and bank balance soared and he now runs a thriving restaurant empire.
Hakki said: ‘Becoming a US citizen in 2018 was the most amazing gift in my life.
‘My financial success is a blessing, it’s amazing, but at the end of the day I always think ‘what can you do for others?’
‘I teach free classes to children on how to make pizza in my shop.
‘Every Sunday and Wednesday we give out food, clothing and medicine to a lot of homeless people.
‘I’m the pizza guy, so I bring the food. I’m so glad and blessed to be able to help.’
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