"I grew up idolizing Conan O'Brien, so for him to give me a compliment or say something nice on the show was special," admitted the YouTuber Sean Evans (40) to People last year. He was also a faithful admirer of the irreverence of David Letterman, whose late-night show his father recorded during the week for Sean to watch on the weekends.
Over the past decade, that boy raised in the suburbs of Chicago has become the biggest nuisance for celebrities who come to his show Hot Ones, which he co-created in 2015 with Chris Schonberger.
The premise is simple. In each interview, the celebrity in question faces a series of questions while eating ten chicken wings - there is a vegetarian or vegan alternative - with a spicy sauce that gets hotter with each wing. They really struggle.
One of the latest guests was Penélope Cruz who, with red eyes and tears about to fall, kept repeating "Oh, it hurts!" while drinking milk, cold water, and fanning herself with her hands.
Behind the scenes, her children Leo (15) and Luna (13) couldn't stop laughing. They were the ones who encouraged her to participate since they are fans of this YouTube show. "You're going to pay for this, family (laughs). Tomorrow I'm going to hide some of this in the food," she tried to tell the host.
Not one to talk much about her private life, the muse of Bigas Luna and Pedro Almodóvar opened up to talk about her children and mentioned that they told her "we can finally say you're a cool mom" when she attended a Bad Bunny concert in Puerto Rico to shout "Hey, PR is something else."
Throughout the 400 episodes aired to date, there have been anecdotes and curiosities like when Shawn Mendes' fans insulted him on social media because they thought he was harming their idol.
There are other noteworthy stories. Rapper Coolio poured half a bottle of hot sauce on one wing and fainted backstage, and Gordon Ramsay was the first to curse: "This damn show is not normal. Damn it." Many others were desperately asking where the bathrooms were.
Since he was a child, Sean knew he wanted to pursue a career in television even though his family was not involved in the industry. His father was a human rights judge and his mother worked for the antitrust division of the Department of Justice. That's why he studied audiovisual journalism at university, where a professor told him to pursue meteorology.
However, he wanted to be the new version of David Letterman, Howard Stern, and Conan O'Brien. By age 29, he had found his path. Hot Ones has been nominated twice for Daytime Emmy Awards by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Among the many faces who have eaten with him are Cate Blanchett, the Jonas Brothers,Ricky Gervais, Ashton Kutcher, and Dua Lipa.
Regarding his private life, he is quite reserved. In recent years, there have been rumors about a possible romantic relationship with actress Keke Palmer (Scream Queens, Berlin Station), with whom he has been photographed walking and dining at restaurants in Los Angeles. However, he has admitted that they are just friends since they met in 2017 when she first appeared on his show.
When the rigorous preparations for Hot Ones allow it - some interviewees consider Sean to ask some of the best questions - he relaxes by playing golf, enjoys Chicago Bears games, is a big pop culture enthusiast, and due to his professional background, he watches and analyzes the movies he sees at home.