Hot Ones has taken the internet by storm - who doesn't love watching celebs writhe in pain
as they eat spicy wings?
Like every popular show, there are plenty of behind-the-scenes secrets viewers aren't
privy to, and lucky for you, we're dishing up the untold truth you won't find anywhere
else.
The sauces are no joke
Sure, you might dabble in Sriracha or douse a meal in Tabasco from time to time, but have
you ever heard of ghost peppers?
No?
Well, if reading the word "ghost" caused a spooky shiver to climb your spine, that feeling's
warranted.
The Scoville scale measures the pungency of chili peppers and other sweat-inducing x.
The more droplets of sweat falling off foreheads means more Scoville heat units, and the sauces
on Hot Ones reach the top of the scale.
Jalapeños, for example, register anywhere between 2,500 and 10,000 Scoville units.
While that sounds like plenty, they don't even scratch the surface.
Take the Carolina Reaper, which breaches the 2 million Scoville unit mark.
As the show's guests make their way through the 10 increasingly spicy wings, most of them
are introduced to the Reaper at some point.
Hot Ones even has their own line of sauces, aptly named the Hot Ones hot sauces.
Some are sweet and mild, but others are brutal mixtures of chipotle peppers, ghost peppers,
habanero peppers, and anything else Hell cooks up.
The very final mouth burn on wing number 10 comes courtesy of Hot Ones The Last Dab Reduxx,
which contains Pepper X, the world's hottest at over 3 million Scoville units.
Conquering a Carolina Reaper
How exactly does one go about embodying the very spirit of Hot Ones?
Well, confronting a Carolina Reaper head on is one sure-fire way, and the show's host,
Sean Evans, stepped into that Thunderdome battle and left with a victory under his belt.
But, that capital "V" didn't come without battle scars.
Evans documented the firefight alongside Claus Pilgaard, a spice-loving Danish entertainer
known as Chili Klaus.
Klaus is so obsessed with the hot stuff that Evans describes him as…
"Chili Klaus is the Michael Jordan of hot chilis."
So, he brought Chili Klaus along for a Carolina Reaper-eating extravaganza at Jimmy's No.
43 in New York City's East Village to stare the spice equivalent of death straight in
the eyes.
Within seconds of swallowing the peppers, well… this happens:
"This is very hot."
In the end, however, they come out on top, and Evans, deservedly, now sits atop the throne
of Hot Ones with a chili-encrusted crown upon his head.
Not bad for a guy who claims that, outside of his job, he doesn't even really like spicy
food!
No easy way
When faced with a near-impossible task, human nature tells us to find the easiest approach.
Many times, some kind of shortcut or wiggle room presents itself, allowing for an easier
experience.
Unfortunately, for Evans' guests, Hot Ones is well aware of this urge, so they make sure
the word "easy" doesn't exist in the show's vocabulary.
"Can I just take my shirt off, just for a second?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"It's like - I'm f---ing…
I got it…
I got a mic…
I know what you're doing."
When dressing the wings, 20 plastic bowls are filled with the sauces - that's 10 for
Evans and 10 for the guest.
Each wing takes a full-force bath in its sauce, ensuring every millimeter of meat wears it
proudly.
Plus, the last wing always receives an extra dash, known intimidatingly as "The Last Dab."
It's not long before the truth hits each guest: There's no hope, plain and simple.
Evans also admits the crew ignores blatant warnings on the bottles such as, "Just one
drop!" or "Dilute with water."
Those who dare to dabble better just put their adult pants on and take the leap.
“COME ON!
GET SOME, BABY!"
Lightning in a bottle
It's hard to know if a show's concept will work until a team breathes life into it.
Countless examples of failed projects exist, proving hours of hard work, sleepless nights,
and big dreams don't always equal success.
When Hot Ones gambled on the idea of burning up celebrity mouths while answering questions,
they had no clue if they were onto something special.
That is, until rapper Machine Gun Kelly took the hot seat.
Evans was still new to the Hot Ones experience when the rapper accepted the invite to sit
down and chat.
The interview flowed smoothly for a while, but at one point, Kelly completely lost his
composure, and Evans instantly knew Hot Ones had something special sitting in its lap.
"Oh my God.
Oh, s---.
Oh.
OH.
OHHHHHH!"
Kelly paced around while screaming and sweating profusely as Evans grinned with excitement.
Hot Ones arrived with a bang, and it was here to stay.
In a world inundated with boring cookie-cutter celebrity interviews, this is good television.
Scoring serious YouTube views
To snag as many YouTube views as possible, users must upload content people crave.
Sure, adorable animals and cooking tutorials seem to garner plenty of traction nowadays
- but there's another key component that's bringing numbers up into the millions: Kevin
Hart.
"Gimme a water, man!
You see me over here strugglin'!
S---!"
Hart's popularity exploded over the last few years, so Hot Ones pounced on the opportunity
to sit down with the Hollywood heavy-hitter and watch him take on the infamous Hot Ones
challenge.
To say the YouTube views quickly racked up is a gross understatement, and Hot Ones has
over 20 million views to prove it.
That's right, over 20 million people tuned in at some point to watch the comedian struggle
through all 10 meaty morsels of mayhem.
He made it, but not without a whole lot of laughter, winces, sniffles, and, of course,
milk.
By the end, the intensity even forced Hart to admit he felt, quote, "drunk."
"I'm drunk.
Like, I'm drunk!
I'm drunk!
Something ain't right.
Something is off, brother.
Something is off right now."
It's nice to know a guy who seems to conquer everything thrown at him is human just like
the rest of us.
Gordon Ramsay's blessing
Inviting Gordon Ramsay onto a show centered around food naturally causes anxiety in everyone
involved.
Onboarding a man known for completely eviscerating the quality of meals he eats likely spells
trouble …
"That's called common sense that in your tiny mind is not common!"
… but Hot Ones knew they needed to sit down with the sultan of slurs to test his tolerance.
Running a successful kitchen, like Ramsay does, involves meticulous preparation, and
boy, he arrives prepared.
While most guests settle for the water and milk provided, Ramsay brought doughnuts, lemon
and lime juice, and antacid.
He's ready to rumble.
Of course, going an entire episode without some kind insult just isn't Ramsay's style.
At one point, he claims the wings are, getting, quote, "smaller and smaller."
He even compares one to his grandfather's big toe.
Yeah - good luck getting that image out of your head.
But he puts his disdain aside for one sauce in particular: the Hot Ones Los Calientes
sauce.
About 10 minutes into the interview, he says;
"That's quite nice.
I like that."
"You do?"
"It's quite zesty."
Well done, Hot Ones.
You pleased the unpleasable.
Medical help
Sometimes all the water, milk, and calculated breaths in the world just aren't enough to
stop the solar plumes erupting in guests' mouths.
Although a trip to the emergency room is always a last resort, when push comes to shove, the
help of a professional hospital staff certainly brings about a proper peace of mind.
Just ask Chrissy Teigen.
A self-proclaimed "hot wing freak," Teigen confidently spoke with Evans, fully aware
of the spice mountain she needed to traverse.
She handled the interview like a champion, answering his questions with her signature
enthusiasm, until she reached the infamous sauce called Da Bomb.
She toughed it out, but the next day found herself sitting in her throat doctor's office
with an overly chaffed tongue and uncontrollable twitches in both her eyebrows.
She credits the disaster to over-indulging on way too many salty Ruffles chips the night
before, which left her tongue "raw."
Combine a raw tongue with the hot sauce, and… yikes.
Like any celebrity with a huge social media following, she took to Twitter to share her
woes.
She admitted to needing a two-week dose of CBD pills to end her eyebrow twitches, which
she attributed to Da Bomb.
"F---!
These ones… it's fine until you talk."
"It's a good thing we made an interview show around this, you know?"
Late-night Hot Ones
One solidifying mark of making it big is an invite to a popular late-night talk show.
It's easy to imagine that Evans never thought an idea like Hot Ones would land him sitting
across from an A-list celebrity host sharing the wings from the show, but Stephen Colbert
welcomed him with open arms - and nerves of steel.
"Ugh… -bleep-damn it."
Due to the show's time constraints, Evans and Colbert only took on four wings, but they're
a fearsome four.
Just like every Hot Ones show, each wing came fully sauced, and Colbert dove in headfirst.
He took on the first two relatively easy but knew discomfort awaited him.
Da Bomb, the third wing, instantly alerted Colbert to the sheer madness of Hot Ones.
But, like the late-night king he is, Colbert grabbed the bottle of Blair's Mega Death Sauce
with Liquid Rage, added that ulcer-inducing final dab onto wing number four, and shoveled
it into his mouth.
His frantic pacing around the studio afterwards gave viewers an idea of the hell he was experiencing.
Evans probably shouldn't expect an invite back anytime soon.
"I wanna ask God: Whatever I did to deserve this, please forgive me."
Spicy spoilers?
When a big-budget film is in the works, the actors involved are sworn to secrecy.
Studios can't risk spoiling huge plot points for the sake of the viewers' experience, and
they take those nondisclosure agreements very seriously.
So, when Scarlett Johansson appeared on Hot Ones, Evans jumped at the chance to grill
the Avengers: Endgame star about the blockbuster film while her guard was down.
Few franchises have dedicated fans drooling over release dates like Marvel.
Evans knows that, and he puts Johansson through an intense bout of questioning in hopes that
she'd shatter her nondisclosure agreement into a million pieces.
"Captain America will die!"
"Goose the cat will ultimately be the key to saving everybody."
The questions go on and on: Will Thanos fall victim to Ant-Man's tricks to trap him in
the Quantum Realm?
Is Loki actually alive?
Although Johansson nods her head in agreement throughout the questions, one can only assume
she was simply trying to stifle the pain.
Such a seasoned actor would never spoil the fun for all of her fans, right?
Throwing in the towel
Just because the desire to plow through all 10 wings burns in each guest, not all have
what it takes, and some find themselves holding a not-so-coveted spot in the Hot Ones Hall
of Shame.
Comedian Mike Epps, rapper Tony Yayo, and DJ Khaled - a guest whose infamous "promise"
"I promise you, if I stop… it doesn't mean I gave up."
"Yes, it does.
By definition."
… has reached near-meme status in the eyes of Hot Ones fans - forever hang in the metaphorical
Hall.
But there's another quitter who might surprise you…
After the eighth wing, comedian Jim Gaffigan threw in the towel.
This, coming from a guy who builds many of his comedy routines on his love of food, was
a shocker.
Evans, feeling an obligation to continue eating while asking the last few questions, endured
the last two.
Surprisingly, Gaffigan wasn't choking down milk and wiping sweat from his face like one
might expect from a person who admits defeat from a Scoville onslaught.
So that's… kind of a win?
Maybe?
"Jim, are you out?"
"...I'm out.
F--- this s---."
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