Hot Ones is a Youtube show from the First We Feast channel where celebrities are interviewed whilst eating ten increasingly spicy chicken wings. While it’s funny to see celebrities make funny faces and suffer at the incredibly fiery snacks, half of Hot Ones' popularity is down to journalist Sean Evans's interviewing technique.
He goes toe to toe with his guests, eating the wings alongside them, and asks genuinely interesting and well thought out questions whilst maintaining politeness. This tactic almost always allows celebrities to open up and give great answers, making Hot Ones not only one of the best internet talk shows, but one of the best talks shows full stop. However, great questions aside, yes, the best thing about Hot Ones is seeing how famous people react to the fires of hell being set alight in their mouths.
Updated on December 20th, 2020 by Matthew Wilkinson: The show has seen an incredible variety of names come through either in-studio or remotely in recent years, providing some of the best interviews possible. The celebrities always throw everything they have into the challenge and seeing the reactions never disappoints. Throughout the history of the show, there has been a great variety of reactions to the sauces. Some people can remain calm, not batting an eyelid as they munch away on the hottest sauces possible, meanwhile, others have been hot messes, reacting in the craziest ways.
Best: Tommy Chong
Usually around halfway through the show, the heat of the wings will truly hit the guests and the background music will become increasingly ominous and epic to encapsulate the drama. Not for Tommy Chong, though, as there is no drama to encapsulate, only laid back vibes. So he gets a jazz piano.
Tommy eats his wings with ease. He doesn’t slur or break his speech at any point. The only inclination that the legendary stoner is feeling the heat is the odd comment here and there like his "teeth are burning" and a light dab of his brow with a handkerchief at the end. Mind you, as someone who once cleared a 6-foot bubbler on stage with Cypress Hill (a story he tells during the interview) you’ll expect the mythical man to have somewhat of an intolerance.
Best: Stone Cold Steve Austin
Hot Ones has had several professional wrestlers appear on the show throughout its history, with Stone Cold Steve Austin being the biggest name that has appeared. The WWE Hall Of Famer was incredibly calm and collected throughout the entire process, never seeming to be phased by the spice.
Austin is known for being able to deal with pain throughout his wrestling career, having several major injuries during his career. But his calmness with the spice was unlike anything the show had seen before, to the point where he was checking his heart rate throughout the entire episode.
Worst: Joey Diaz
Joey Diaz is a fantastic comedian and someone who is not afraid to speak his mind. Thankfully Hot Ones allowed this interview to go uncensored so we manage to witness the full insanity as he ascends the flaming steps of the Hot Ones "Scoville Levels." Like Chong “Uncle Joey” has a reputation as a hardcore smoker who can withstand more than the common man. Unlike Chong, this immunity doesn’t stretch out too spicy wings.
Not even “CoCo’s” trademark blue cheese can save him from the chili, as his reaction goes from funny to quite scary. By the end of it, his t-shirt is drenched with sweat, his face is as red as a tomato and you honestly fear for Diaz’s well-being. Of course, he finishes it like a pro because nothing can kill Joey Diaz. After hearing some of the crazy stories he tells on this episode, you’ll probably believe that too.
Best: Rachael Ray
Celebrity chefs always tend to be great guests on Hot Ones for one reason or another and Rachael Ray is no exception. In her episode she decided to opt-out of eating the wings and went for the straight-up sauce, eating a spoonful on each level.
Not only does she manage to pull off this incredible feat, but she does so with a smile on her face all the way through until the end. Even the infamous “Last Dab” can’t bring her down. A true champion.
Worst: Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais is one of the guests who failed to go through the entire run of chicken wings, tapping out before the end because the heat was too much for him to handle. The comedian reacted hilariously to the wings, struggling from the outset.
The episode was really funny, which was to be expected from the legendary comedian. However, it was surprising that he didn't at least make it to the end of the gauntlet, with Ricky clearly not being a fan of spicy food.
Worst: Eddie Huang
Another celebrity chief with another interesting technique. Rather than go up the traditional Scoville levels, Eddie Huang decides to go for the hottest wing first and work his way backward. A decision he must truly regret.
After only a couple of wings, Eddie has to leave the room and make his way to the bathroom to try and regain his composure. Upon his return he has to tap out, leaving host Sean Evans to eat the wings by himself as he asks the questions. Eddie did return in season 6 and managed to complete the ten by going the traditional route.
Best: Coolio
Coolio lives up to his namesake and manages to keep his cool all the way through this episode whilst also giving one of the best, most insightful interviews of his career. But the real heroic moment comes from the final wing. Rather than just settle on the traditional Last Dab, Coolio smothers his final piece of chicken in the lava-like liquid.
We then see Coolio go through what most guest experiences during the duration of the show in the space of thirty seconds. Understandably after the camera’s stopped rolling the "Gangsta's Paradise" rapper had to retreat to the green room where he fell into a deep sleep on the couch.
Worst: DJ Khalid
The combination of great questions and flaming spices normally results in the audience seeing the celebrity's true self. This might not have been such a good thing for DJ Khalid.
He taps out around three wings in but continues the interview going on a slightly uncomfortable, egotistical tirade where you are unsure if he is joking or not. As the ranting goes on it appears to be the latter and it seems that Khalid's overhyped opinion of himself goes beyond just yelling his name randomly in songs.
Best: Dax Shepard
Dax Shepard is certainly one of the greatest guests on Hot Ones when it comes to handling the spice. The popular actor and podcast host admitted heading into the interview that he was great with spice, and he wasn't lying. Both he and his wife, Kristen Bell, have thrived during the show, but Dax was slightly more impressive.
He actually went as far as requesting to have a second final wing, which was the spiciest of the lot, having no problem with eating another. He even went on to do some math sums at the same time, showing that the spice was having no impact on him.
Best: Lil Yachty
Rapper Lil Yachty had never tried hot sauce before guesting on the show, so you have to admire his bravery for having his first try in front of millions of Youtube subscribers.
Even though he doesn’t manage to go the distance he gets close tapping out just before the last dab. Keep in mind that he has never experienced the burning or regret of spicy sauce before, let alone some of the spiciest in the world, one has to respect his tenacity to get as far as he did.
Worst: Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish was a huge name for the show to bring in due to her incredible popularity. The musician was a lot of fun on the show, bringing great energy throughout, but she was someone who struggled with the head of the wings throughout the interview.
Billie was downing as many drinks as she could, to the point where she ended up just using ice cubes in her mouth to try and stop the heat that she was struggling with. However, throughout it all, she created a great interview that was really fun to watch.
Worst: Bobby Lee
The veteran comic holds the honor of being one of the most disgusting guests. Unlike Lil Yachty he ignores his body's limitations and decides to push through despite breaking a copious amount of wind, which was surely a horrific experience for host Sean Evans.
The grand finale sees Bobby Lee presumably soiling himself. The "event" was never officially confirmed, but the look of shock on his and Evans' face, plus a sound Evan’s later went on to describe as “a watermelon hitting the ground” you can safely presume that Bobby Lee did indeed do the dirty on accident.
Best: Cara Delevingne
Cara Delevingne admits that she isn’t a fan of spicy food, but it’s quite endearing that to her shock and surprise she finds herself enjoying the flavor of the first few wings.
The innocent naivety hits home when the heat goes up, but rather than “do a Khalid” and throw in the towel she soldiers on through the rest. You cannot help but cheer her along as she keeps her positive and funny demeanor even though inside she is clearly in a world of pain.
Worst: Martin Garrix
Probably the opposite of Delevingne. Not because he comes across as horrible, in fact, quite the opposite. Youtuber Martin Garrix's youthfulness probably adds to the heartache as he chomps on down the wings and his journey to the end of the line.
The reason why he is the opposite of Cara is rather than cheer him on you are almost willing him to stop. He clearly cannot handle the madness and as he goes through he ends up drinking the best part of a Gallon of milk. Fans of the TV show Jackass know that this isn’t the best idea and after the recording, he ran to the bathroom to heave up all the demons he ingested during the course of his interview. Bless him.
Worst: Gordon Ramsay
Without a doubt, the funniest example of someone struggling to deal with the heat is Gordon Ramsay. Despite the fact he's one of the greatest chefs in the world, who has traveled around the globe and tried countless different flavors, he was horrendous at dealing with the spice.
Gordon couldn't cope with it in the slightest and spent his time eating and drinking countless different drinks and snacks that he brought. He then poured lemon juice all over the last wing in a bid to fight the heat, with his reactions helping the episode become hilarious.