Sean Evans Reveals Which Celebrities Have Shocked Him Most on ‘Hot Ones’

After interviewing hundreds of A-list guests on First We Feast’s hit talk show Hot Ones, Sean Evans has learned to expect the unexpected — because no matter how many times he watches celebrities face the wing gauntlet, they continue to surprise him.

Evans opens up about how some of the show’s most jaw-dropping moments have come from guests no one saw coming while discussing his partnership with Popeyes, which featured a limited-time menu collaboration in September.

“Every season, there’s a guest who completely subverts expectations,” the media personality shares, revealing Ariana Grande, Demi Moore, Lorde and Conan O’Brien were among the most shocking celebrities to appear on the show — each for wildly different reasons.

Evans notes he and his team stopped trying to predict how guests would perform long ago.

“We used to kind of bet and prognosticate on how somebody would do,” he recalls. “Then we stopped doing that early on because everyone is always subverting expectations.”

Some stars shocked him by barely reacting at all. “If I look back in recent seasons, you have like Demi Moore or Ariana Grande,” Evans explains.

Grande, in particular, made the spice challenge look effortless. “Not everybody is Ariana Grande just no-selling the entire gauntlet,” he quips.

Others left an impression by doing the exact opposite. Evans recalls Lorde gliding through the experience unfazed. “I remember Lorde sort of ephemerally floating in on a cloud and being completely unaffected,” he mentions.

Meanwhile, O’Brien shocked Evans by fully embracing the madness. “I didn’t really expect Conan O’Brien to start busting the tops on hot sauce bottles and drinking straight from the bottle and kind of going into this wing-by-wing deeper and darker psychosis thing that he did,” the talk show host jokes.

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Despite having filmed hundreds of episodes, Evans says the unpredictability is what keeps Hot Ones feeling fresh. “Nothing about the format has really changed at all,” he explains. “It’s the same set, it’s the same guy, but it’s never the same experience. Every single interview is just so singular and one of one.”

Evans believes the show’s format — and the scorching wings — are what allow celebrities to drop their guard. “You almost forget that you’re on a TV show,” he points out. “You kind of let your guard down because you’re in such a vulnerable place.”

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That vulnerability has helped turn Hot Ones into what Evans calls an “internet interview of record,” with guests arriving prepared for both the heat and the conversation. “When you’re going to have the most famous people in the world go through this scorching hot chicken wing gauntlet, it’s important to meet them halfway with a thoughtful, career-spanning interview,” he states.

While Evans has explored new creative partnerships — including his recent collaboration with Popeyes earlier this fall — he says the core of Hot Ones remains unchanged: letting celebrities react naturally and embracing the unexpected.

“The only thing you can do,” Evans adds, “is leave yourself room to not even be shocked — because everything’s surprising.”

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