‘Hot Ones’ Host Sean Evans on Why ‘YouTube Is Television’ and Whether He’d Host the Oscars

‘Hot Ones’ Host Sean Evans on Why ‘YouTube Is Television’ and Whether He’d Host the Oscars

Sean Evans has been hosting his chicken-wing eating interview series “Hot Ones” for 11 years, and he can still remember exactly what the show felt like when he wasn’t entirely sure anyone was watching.  “From the first couple of episodes, we’d have guests stand up on the tables and do laps around the studio,” Evans tells Variety. “There was such gonzo chaos. I knew that the way it would translate to video would be unlike anything anyone’s ever…

How Sean Evans turned 'Hot Ones' into one of entertainment's most important interview shows

There was a time when appearing on Hot Ones felt like a novelty. Now, it's practically a rite of passage.Over the last decade, Sean Evans and the team behind the hit YouTube interview series have transformed a simple idea — celebrities eating increasingly spicy wings while answering increasingly personal questions — into one of the most influential talk-show formats in entertainment. Long before Hollywood fully embraced creator-led programming, …