![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/esquire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9-b-sean-6894dfb31149f.avif\")
Photography: Micaiah Carter | Jacket and T-Shirt by Brunello Cucinelli.<\/p>\n
IT\u2019S A HOT ONE.<\/strong> I\u2019m meeting Sean Evans during, of all things, a record New York City heat wave, and I am soaked in sweat when I arrive for our interview. Yet the\u00a0Hot Ones\u00a0host is (surprise, surprise) sitting comfortably. After all, the thirty-nine-year-old host spends time on his viral YouTube show grilling celebrities\u2014with, as the slogan goes, \u201chot questions and even hotter wings\u201d\u2014as they both eat their way through a slate of progressively spicier chicken. He doesn\u2019t overheat easily.<\/p>\n My plan to make him sweat? Some probing questions about his interview techniques. But that doesn\u2019t work either. Although Evans isn\u2019t used to getting questions about his craft from the other side, he welcomes it. \u201cIt\u2019s funny how many interviews I do, and no one really talks to me about interviewing,\u201d Evans says. \u201cIt\u2019s like sitting down with a baseball player and not asking them about baseball once.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 2015, Evans has interviewed a feast of Hollywood A-listers, including Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, Cate Blanchett, and Michael B. Jordan, as well as Gordon Ramsay, Ariana Grande, and Stephen Curry, over more than 300 episodes of\u00a0Hot Ones\u00a0and countless dabs of a hot sauce called Da\u2019 Bomb: Beyond Insanity. Three thousand wings later, the series now garners millions of views per episode. Given that YouTube is considered the number-one TV network by audience, if a press tour doesn\u2019t include an appearance on\u00a0Hot Ones,\u00a0then someone fell down on the job.<\/p>\n The show\u2019s secret sauce? It\u2019s Evans. He\u2019s a natural at guiding celebrities through an on-camera task so completely outside their comfort zone as the hot sauces break down their guard and distract them from their media-rehearsed lines. \u201cWe had Jennie from Blackpink on recently, and she was suffering as much as I\u2019ve ever seen anyone,\u201d Evans tells me. Still, he encouraged the pop singer to conquer her remaining wings and \u201cexpress herself in a human way that you could never get from a typical question-and-answer interview setting.\u201d Plus, he\u2019s in hot-sauce-drenched hell right along with them\u2014hoping to \u201ctake an uncomfortable setting and try to make it as comfortable as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another secret. Next time you watch an episode of\u00a0Hot Ones,\u00a0notice how often Evans mirrors the guest. \u201cIf they go for a glass of milk, I try to have the first sip. Just to let \u2019em know that it\u2019s okay,\u201d Evans says. \u201c[It\u2019s like] holding their hand through an ayahuasca trip. As much as we torture them, I put it on my shoulders to protect them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n A Chicago native, Evans is an easygoing, \u201cgeneric-looking bald guy,\u201d as he describes himself. Off camera, he\u2019s the sports-bar buddy you\u2019d want to grab a beer with after work and maybe even score a free plate of wings. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter what I order on the menu,\u201d says Evans. \u201cIf they make wings, eventually some will come out.\u201d<\/p>\n Evans went to broadcast-journalism school in hopes of emulating his TV idols: David Letterman and Conan O\u2019Brien. His father was a human-rights judge, and his mother worked for the Department of Justice\u2019s antitrust division. Evans didn\u2019t see himself doing anything quite so serious as an adult. When MUm was away on business, Dad would let a young Evans stay up and watch TV. \u201cThe hardest I ever heard my dad laugh was when he was watching Letterman,\u201d he remembers.<\/p>\n Evans views\u00a0Hot Ones\u00a0as his own take on the late-night talk show. And he successfully petitioned to submit for the Outstanding Talk Series category against Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers at last year\u2019s Emmy Awards (though he didn\u2019t snag a nomination). Still, the most ironic part of Evans\u2019s origin story is that he isn\u2019t some superhuman with an iron stomach. At first, scarfing down wings was just another shtick for a guy trying to make it in media.<\/p>\n Before he became a hot-sauce-drenched talk-show host, Evans was interviewing Snoop Dogg and 2 Chainz at the 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend and trying out Dwayne \u201cthe Rock\u201d Johnson\u2019s workout diet for videos published by Complex Media. The idea for\u00a0Hot Ones\u00a0was originally pitched to him by the CEO of First We Feast\u2014the online food and culture brand behind the show\u2014as just a funny, situational gag for a video interview. You won\u2019t find Evans dissing his signature dish, however. \u201cIn a lot of ways, I love chicken wings,\u201d he tells me. \u201cThey\u2019ve changed my life in ways that I could have never dreamed of in a million years.\u201d<\/p>\n At this point, you probably already know\u00a0Hot Ones\u2019 most viral moments by heart. Chef Gordon Ramsay famously spat expletives at Evans after a few rounds of hot sauce. (\u201cThis fucking program\u2019s not normal. Fucking hell!\u201d)\u00a0Coolio poured half a bottle of hot sauce onto a single wing\u2014\u201cI actually don\u2019t even know if you\u2019ll survive that,\u201d Evans told him\u2014before he reportedly passed out backstage. And actress Aubrey Plaza snorted milk out of her nose after just one taste of Da\u2019 Bomb. \u201cAm I having a stroke?\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n Behind the scenes, Evans became a co-owner and the chief creative officer of First We Feast this past December. A little less than a year prior, the company launched a new spin-off series,\u00a0Hot Ones Versus, which pits celebrity guests against each other.\u00a0Hot Ones\u00a0is also planning its first live show\u2014an event that wasn\u2019t up for discussion under the two previous owners, Complex Media and BuzzFeed. \u201cUp until this point, this show has gone out and hunted every meal that we\u2019ve ever eaten,\u201d Evans tells me. \u201cIn fact, the money that we would make before would go to paying down the debts of media companies for decisions that have nothing to do with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Evans has fought through more blistering battles before, though. \u201cIt was a soul-crushing place to be as a creative person, but I don\u2019t have any of those feelings anymore,\u201d he says. \u201cIt taught us to be resourceful, and now we can take that into this new venture.\u201d<\/p>\n But can Evans stomach another decade of hot wings? \u201cIf LeBron James can play in the NBA for twenty-three years, then maybe I can do\u00a0Hot Ones\u00a0for twenty,\u201d he says. As much as it pains him to eat Da\u2019 Bomb once a week, he\u2019s nowhere near his last dab.<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong><\/p>\n Loved \u2018Weapons\u2019? Here are 5 more high-concept horror films to stream right now<\/a><\/p>\n
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