Hot Ones’ Sean Evans and Keke Turn Up the Spice

Sean Evans might be the internet’s favorite wingman, but when he sits down with Keke, things get even spicier. They break down the art of great interviews, unforgettable celebrity moments, and asking the questions nobody else thinks to ask. Sean explains how Hot Ones became a cultural phenomenon while he and Keke revisit their flirty chemistry, joke about their viral kiss, bond over Midwest roots, and get competitive during a game of Twister that has them falling… for each other. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Keke Palmer?

  Well, well, well. You'd never guess who we've got swinging by the podcast today. Some of y'all know him as the hot wing expert. Others know him as one of the fiercest interviewers in the game. And me, I might know him as a potential future suitor. Yes, my boo, Shawn Evans is in the building. Shawn is the chief creative officer of First We Feast, and the host of Hot Ones, and with over 4 billion views, an Emmy nomination, and being named one of Time 100's most influential creators, save to say, he clearly knows how to connect. So today, we're getting into the art of interviewing, how you ask the right questions, build real connections, and create moments people actually feel.

• 0:45Keke Palmer?

  And also, how you navigate public perception, especially when you're trying to protect yourself and your craft. So, let's bring the heat, 'cause baby, this is Keke Palmer. And baby, this is Shawn Evans.

• 1:29Keke Palmer?

  Today's episode is brought to you by the new drinks at McDonald's. Six new drinks crafted sodas with cold foam, refreshers with popping Bulba and freeze-dried fruit, and trust, they are giving everything. Now, let's get into today's show. Shawn!

• 1:47Speaker 01

  Hey there.

• 1:50Speaker 01

  Good to see you.

• 1:52Keke Palmer?

  I'm on your side of the world.

• 1:53Speaker 01

  I know, I know.

• 1:55Keke Palmer?

  Come on, have you been feeling in New York, the weather's been nice?

• 1:57Speaker 01

  It is, spring's starting, I feel good. It's good to be here, good to see you on a Friday afternoon.

• 2:02Keke Palmer?

  I know, I was so excited and I'm self thrilled for our game. He has no idea what it's gonna be. But you did do these pre-show pull-up questions, so I'm gonna get into this. Wait a minute, your zodiac sign, you're a Taurus.

• 2:15Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 2:16Keke Palmer?

  Your moon is Scorpio, I feel that I felt that.

• 2:18Speaker 01

  You knew that.

• 2:19Keke Palmer?

  I could feel that.

• 2:20Speaker 01

  You know who helped me figure it, SZA actually figured this stuff out for me.

• 2:23Keke Palmer?

  You must, you told her your not, your time and everything.

• 2:25Speaker 01

  My time, the date, the location, all of the things.

• 2:28Keke Palmer?

  You have a lot of good stuff going on. You have a rising in Libra. I do feel that I see you always having a nice look on. Your aesthetic is always good. That's what we know about Libras.

• 2:37Speaker 01

  Okay, yeah, yeah, I was hoping you'd teach me about this.

• 2:39Keke Palmer?

  Scorpio, a little mystery, you know, very, um, very, always can get what they need to get done, done. You know, like, this is the goal, boom. And then Taurus, do you feel stubborn at times?

• 2:52Speaker 01

  On certain, in certain things. That's what I always feel like filling out these sorts of things. Well, I'm like, I don't know, I guess sometimes that makes sense to me, but yeah, yeah.

• 2:59Keke Palmer?

  I mean, that's how astrology can be, like, it's sometimes it's like on the nose and other times like, this could be anybody on any given day.

• 3:04Speaker 01

  Do you know what I think I do? I think I have like a strong gut on something. And then if something doesn't feel right, like my body physically like won't let me do it. You know, I do think that there is like a real like wall. Like, I think that there is a certain Taurus stubbornness, I guess, if I was to diagnose it.

• 3:21Keke Palmer?

  Also, that sounds like discernment too. Sounds like you have a really good intuition with yourself and you're like, oh no, I ain't going there. That's good. Um, your love language, quality time and words of affirmation. Now, is this what you want to hear or this is how you give it out?

• 3:35Speaker 01

  I think it's, I think it's reciprocal. Like, I think it's both ways. I think that's what works for me and then I think that that's also how I express it.

• 3:42Keke Palmer?

  I also do want words. You know, I feel like I show it with physical touch and quality time. I feel like that's, and acts of service. I feel like that's probably how I'm giving it out. But how I wanna receive it is tell me that I'm great.

• 3:55Speaker 01

  I'm checking some boxes then.

• 3:59Keke Palmer?

  You must tell me, you must tell me. Um, what's a question you wished you were asked more in interview? I mean, you're always interviewing.

• 4:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, you know, it's, I think it's, it's interesting because no one really talks to me about doing actual interviews. You know, when I sit down and do interviews, people are always like, oh, like, what's the craziest thing that happens on Hot Ones? Like, how's your stomach doing? Like, those sorts of questions, but I never really get like, questions about doing interviews, which I find interesting.

• 4:25Keke Palmer?

  I'm very excited because that's actually all my questions.

• 4:29Keke Palmer?

  Um, who is someone that you met that made you feel starstruck? This was really cool to me. Gordon Ramsay, never knew you liked chefs like that.

• 4:36Speaker 01

  Well, I think it was because when we shot with him, there was such internet peer pressure to push us into a room together. Like, I felt bad doing Hot Ones because every time we'd be like, this week on Hot Ones, all of our comments would be like, when are you having Gordon Ramsay on the show? And then same with him, like, his Instagram was just full of like, when are you doing Hot Ones? So I felt like the internet kind of peer pressured us into a room together. So it had this elevated importance to it, like a real kind of playoff game, like a YouTube Super Bowl kind of feeling to it. So then when he walked into the room, plus you have those expectations that he's gonna tear our wings apart, you know? Like, you have that hope that he's gonna like, be a, be a force in the room.

• 5:12Keke Palmer?

  Actually, because I feel like I didn't see this app.

• 5:14Speaker 01

  He, to me, is a teddy bear. Like, I love him so much, I feel like he's like a showbiz uncle to me at this point. So it was like breaking all that down, but like, seeing him in the room, I was like, oh my gosh, it's happening.

• 5:24Keke Palmer?

  That's crazy. And then you also said, um, Conan O'Brien, David Letterman, Viola Davis, and Cate Blanchett. Great taste.

• 5:32Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 5:33Keke Palmer?

  All these people are like, exceptional in their lane.

• 5:36Speaker 01

  Well, I think that's why, you know, like, if, like, Cate Blanchett or like, um, Viola Davis is gonna come in and do Hot Ones, I'm always like, how do we book? How did this happen? Do they know what they're getting themselves into? So that, I think, adds to it. Um, Conan, I was such a fan of growing up. So then when it comes full circle, like, this person who I grew up watching their show, and now they're on mine, there's something about that, that's crazy. And then David Letterman. Is

• 6:00Keke Palmer?

  Crazy.

• 6:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, to me, like, the earliest core memories I have in my life was watching Letterman with my dad. That was like the fun thing that we'd do when my mom was out of town, like the fun, like naughty, like the boys being boys kind of thing. And then I met him, uh, last year I did Conan O'Brien's, uh, Kennedy Center Honors for the, uh, Mark Twain Prize for American Comedy. There's like a dinner beforehand and I'm looking at the, uh, I'm looking at the, um, you know, name tags.

• 6:25Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, yeah, like who's sitting here.

• 6:26Speaker 01

  And I'm like, damn, I'm at a good table, you know?

• 6:30Speaker 01

  That's John Mulaney and Adam Sandler. And then like across, across the way was David Letterman. And then when he walked in, cause he's like later than everybody, like sits down. I remember he grabs a dinner roll out of the middle of the table, throws it at Conan across the restaurant. And I was like, whoa, like that's him.

• 6:45Keke Palmer?

  And that's you up in that, at that table with them. I mean, you are, I mean, you know, I mean, but it makes sense because of what you've been able to do within our generation and in this space. I mean, that's, that's what we'll be looking at 20 years. I'm sitting up there with Sean Evans, you know what I mean? Well, let's go back to the beginning because you're also a Midwesterner like myself. You're from Crystal Lake, Illinois. And I'm from Robbins, Illinois. I don't know what, what's Crystal Lake's vibe? Is it very cornfields?

• 7:11Speaker 01

  It's like the last suburb, I feel like. I think like beyond that, it's all cornfields, but it's pretty far out. You know, it's like an hour, 20 minute drive to Chicago.

• 7:19Keke Palmer?

  Is this north?

• 7:20Speaker 01

  Northwest.

• 7:20Keke Palmer?

  Northwest.

• 7:21Speaker 01

  Northwest.

• 7:22Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 7:22Speaker 01

  Metro Union Pacific Northwest. Take it almost to the end of the line.

• 7:26Keke Palmer?

  So growing up there was like?

• 7:28Speaker 01

  It was actually like an awesome child of the nineties experience. Now that I look back on it, it was very much a ride my bike around the neighborhood, little league kind of experience. And I remember the street that I grew up on, everybody had kids that were all within three years of each other. So it was like, oh, they're playing basketball in the driveway over here. They're skateboarding over there. There's a super soaker fight in the backyard over here. You know, there was always like stuff going on and, uh, I do look back and think of it as kind of like the quintessential 90s suburban experience.

• 8:00Keke Palmer?

  I mean, I do think John Hughes got it right.

• 8:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, exactly. It was right out of that. And like John Hughes also, you know, like from that area too, or is like making movies at least. That area. So I think that like the John Hughes vibe did kind of track with my experience growing up.

• 8:15Keke Palmer?

  I do feel like growing up in the Midwest is like such a dope like way to grow up. What do you feel like is the most Midwestern thing about you to even to this day?

• 8:23Speaker 01

  I think it's like, uh, my mom was the nicest person I've ever known. And I think that that kind of rubs off where there's always this, um, kind of make sure I'm not stepping on anyone's toes. Make sure I'm not rocking the boat. Like, is everybody okay? Sort of a thing that I think I still have to this day. And I, I also think that it gave me the ability to kind of sit at any lunch table, you know? When I was growing up in high school, like I felt like, you know, you'd have friends from this group, like these guys on the football team, like these guys who do plays.

• 8:53Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 8:54Speaker 01

  These guys who are musical, like whatever. So I think all of those things kind of, um, informed what I do now, which is always trying to catch a rhythm with other people's personalities. And doing mostly celebrity interviews. So you're going to have big personalities. And I think a lot of that, uh, was shaping in, in a way.

• 9:11Keke Palmer?

  I mean, you're very quick on your feet and you talk about watching like David Letterman or even Howard Stern growing up.

• 9:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 9:16Keke Palmer?

  What tactics do you think you were picking up that you use in your style of, of journalism?

• 9:22Speaker 01

  Well, I think there's different things. Like, I don't know. I, I do think I have like my own style, but I think a thing that I pick up on is Letterman had this kind of irreverence, especially later on in his career where, you know, he's got this like big, huge show, but I think he'd more or less, this is just my take on it. But he'd more or less like stopped the kind of like ratings wars with Leno and just kind of like, uh, be himself out there. And almost had like an irreverent view of like his own job in a way, which I always liked too, which I always liked too, like looking back now is like not taking what I do too seriously. Like ultimately at the end of the day, I'm a chicken wing talk show host, you know, and I should just kind of lean in and embrace that side of it and like not try to make it too big.

• 10:02Speaker 01

  And I think that's something that stuck with me from Letterman. And then I think in Howard, it was just the kind of way that he'd kind of lull you into a web. You know, that you didn't even know that you're really like leaning into.

• 10:14Keke Palmer?

  You are excellent at that. Because what I love so much, watching you, even though I'm in the experience, obviously, having been interviewed by you several times, is, like you say, you have your own style of that same sentiment, where you have an arc that you're building from the beginning with everything that you've pulled that brings around to the conversation you're deciding to have with that artist, with that person about themselves.

• 10:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:38Keke Palmer?

  I mean, do you decide when you're gonna have somebody on that this is what I think about them, this is what I want people to at least learn or know about them, and this is how I'm gonna get there?

• 10:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, it is a funny thing that you're filling out, like, it's a funny thing to think about, or how you kind of chess match it, or how the Tetris blocks kind of stack on top of each other, because I guess when I'm looking at it, there's, I'll marinate in somebody's life for a week, if I have a week, before I sit down with them, walk a mile in their shoes, and then you do a lot of armchair psychology when you're doing that, you're kind of like, trying to figure this person out, but then you don't want to overly put them in a box, because all of the things that you're watching from them is like a version of them in a box, you know what I mean?

• 11:19Keke Palmer?

  Right!

• 11:20Speaker 01

  So you want to think about, how do I, like, well, what do I find interesting about this person, what am I naturally, just intellectually curious about, that should lead, and then, how am I gonna show a different side that isn't already represented in all these things, and that could be a risk, you know, like, sometimes that works out, sometimes that doesn't, but I think it's worth going there, because then you're gonna have a different vibe on the other side of it, and then, that's why I think, you know, in addition to the wings, it is that interview, trying to meet the guest halfway, so they're always eating the next wing, that I think ultimately gives Hot Ones that kind of, what's it like to have a beer with this person?

• 11:55Keke Palmer?

  Exactly. And getting them out of there, almost like how comedy or horror can act in film and TV, where it gets you off your feet, but not in a negative way, like, it's always so positive with Hot Ones, but, you're still kind of knocking that person off their feet, because with that wing, you can't, you gotta, you can't think too much.

• 12:10Speaker 01

  Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, the PR training goes out the window, when you're just trying to survive out there.

• 12:15Keke Palmer?

  Exactly, I mean, when this idea came to you, you're working at Complex, like, tell me the story, they come in with this idea, I think it's, what is it, Chris?

• 12:23Speaker 01

  Chris Schoenberger.

• 12:24Keke Palmer?

  Chris Schoenberger, yeah, so he comes in and says, hey, I want you to eat wings.

• 12:27Speaker 01

  So really, how it worked out is, uh, we were at Complex and back in 2015, 2014, that started this wave where every magazine became a YouTube channel. So in order to keep our jobs, we had to come up with some sort of video product. And then Chris and I were honestly just like watercooler buddies in the office. Like, we would just always be chatting and had a good vibe. And First We Feast at that time was just a written blog. Uh, it was winning James Beard Awards and stuff. It was cool. It was like this blog at the intersection of food and pop culture. But it was kind of if you know, you know, sort of a thing. Um, so he had to come up with a video product. We were talking about things for a while. Uh, we were in the Complex office, so celebrities would be walking the halls all the time.

• 13:08Speaker 01

  So we were like, maybe a celebrity interview show would be viable just because of our proximity to it. And then, you know, we needed like a food element because it was a food brand. We had this idea that celebrity interview shows are kind of boring. Why are they boring? Everyone's in kind of a PR-driven flight pattern. What could we do to disrupt it? And he said, he was like, well, what if we had the meat scorching hot chicken wings? Over the course of the interview, as a way to break them down. And I was like, you're a genius. And we ordered a pizza and started hammering out what a pilot would look like and working on the pitch. And then shot the pilot with Tony Yeoh from G-Unit.

• 13:39Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, come on.

• 13:42Speaker 01

  Our first ever guest. And that was like 11 years ago and we haven't stopped shooting them since.

• 13:47Keke Palmer?

  And I remember, I think, I did, mine's in 2016.

• 13:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. You were, you were early wave, first wave hot ones.

• 13:53Keke Palmer?

  I'm like, what the hell is this show? You know what I mean? But I was down because it was so cool. And like you said, it was all at this beginning place. And I'm so curious of what you feel and what you think about it because you are a part of shaping this as well. The conversation around pop culture, media, this meta-narrative thing that's going on, that I don't think we have all the answers to, but it's happening because we came up at the height of reality TV. And then social media, being 90s babies, like, what are your thoughts about that as it pertains to what you're providing into the culture? Like, how do you view it?

• 14:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, I, I mean, I think I'm just like a star in the constellation of it all. You know, like now there's so much of it. You know, when we first started, there was only a couple. Internet celebrity interview shows, maybe like two or three, you know? And now there's like 20 of them and they're all good. You know, I think a lot of them are really good right now. And then you still have the late nights. So I think that what's happening right now is you have, you know, what's going on culturally? Where it's like, everybody's in kind of smaller pockets of like watching and absorbing things. Tailored specifically to their tastes and interests. And I think that that's like the future of it is just a lot of small studios that are, rather than, you know, like sort of monoculture going out and everybody's seeing them like,

• 15:13Speaker 01

  I don't know, just like smaller camps, I guess.

• 15:14Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, and people getting to choose more. I think before we were forced because we just had this way of viewing media that whatever they told us was the best thing was the best thing. Which could be true or it's always subjective, but now you, you know, you can just go find whatever it is. And I think there's a lot of, there's something that's empowering about that. But then also we run into the thing where it's like, how do I find the thing?

• 15:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, and, and I miss the monoculture kind of thing, you know? Where like we could all talk and there's like, you know, like movie references that we all understand. Or like things going on in shows that everybody can talk about. And that's obviously different now and I'm not sure it's coming back.

• 15:48Keke Palmer?

  I know, it's weird, but I'm excited to see where, you know, where it goes and how to be a part of it. What's something about you day to day that would surprise people who watch your work all the time?

• 15:57Speaker 01

  You know, I don't know if it'd surprise anybody, I'm just like a routine person, you know, like.

• 16:05Keke Palmer?

  Really? So waking up in the morning, what you doing?

• 16:07Speaker 01

  Uh, gym first.

• 16:08Keke Palmer?

  Come on, gym!

• 16:09Speaker 01

  Gym first thing, yeah. Like, let's say I don't have a shoot that day and I'm not traveling that day or I don't have an event or whatever. Gym in the morning, like an hour lift, 30 cardio, hit the sauna. Then I'm at Whole Foods, I'm getting the hot bar, like that's what I'm eating that day. I'm going back to my, I'm going back to my apartment. I'm working with my editor Colin for a couple of hours. Then I'm gonna do some research on whoever I'm interviewing that week for a couple more hours. And then I'm going to smoke a joint, watch a college basketball game and go to bed.

• 16:42Keke Palmer?

  This is the I'm a good man schedule.

• 16:46Keke Palmer?

  Okay, everything was

• 16:49Keke Palmer?

  But I love what you said about if I don't have anything going on because those are like the perfect days.

• 16:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, right, right, right.

• 16:54Keke Palmer?

  Otherwise.

• 16:54Speaker 01

  Fewer and far between these days.

• 16:56Keke Palmer?

  Man, they really are. Cause you're, I feel like first we feast, I feel like the, that Hot Ones was first. We're in one place, people come, da da da. But I mean, I just did it with you, we was in LA. We went with you going there, like. When you think about the success of the show. At any point, was it scary? Did it feel like it's falling away from you? How do you maintain what it was in the beginning as it grows so massively?

• 17:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, there's a lot to unpack there. Um, there are certain times where I can get nostalgic about the beginning and how it's just me and Chris and a dream and us against the world and always traveling together and then putting everything into these um. Weekly episodes and then seeing the growth and the climb and all of the excitement from that and like. Catching your first white whale guest and breaking a million subscribers and like all of these things that happen and then I think. The deeper and longer you go, these achievements that before would like. Make your entire week just become mile markers that you're like passing on the highway or something and. And I miss that side of it, that sort of.

• 17:58Keke Palmer?

  The first.

• 17:59Speaker 01

  The youthful ambition and the delusion and the excitement of all of that. But then also too, like time also gives you a much healthier. Mindset with the whole thing or experience or stacking it up, you know, where. Um, you know, like you have some years where you crush it and everything's crazy and then you have a year where. Things are down and you think it's the end, but then like when you go through it and you have enough. It's just like, oh, well, this is a, it all ebbs and flows.

• 18:25Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 18:26Speaker 01

  Changes and it's not like this sort of uh, nonstop trajectory up, you know, like you, you take. Two steps forward, one step back, three steps forward, two steps back, you know, like it becomes this kind of dance and. Um, I'm now like, I think that's given me a better, healthier mindset on the whole thing, so. Now I just really only look at things as the next challenge or the next assignment or the next thing. I really think I've become like a Pac-Man who's always just like eating the next pebble.

• 18:53Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 18:53Speaker 01

  And like that, I think is. Has been healthy because I'm just like, you know what, if this interview is good enough, then they'll pay me to do another one. And if that's good enough, then they'll pay me to do another one. And that's kind of how I started. And that's still to this day is what fuels me, I guess.

• 19:07Keke Palmer?

  Did you ever have an end goal? Did you ever say, well, you know, I would love to be able to be doing, you know, I would love to have my own radio, I would show, I would love to have, like, were there any things for you that that were in the beginning and that still stand for where you want to go?

• 19:21Speaker 01

  You know, I think I've done so many laps around any expectation that I ever had for myself, that it's all house money at this point. You know, like, like, I'd never dreamed as big as I live, you know?

• 19:32Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my gosh, that is so cool.

• 19:33Speaker 01

  I don't aspire for anything bigger, to be honest with you. I think I've gotten more out of it than I ever deserved. So like, from this point forward, I think there's a responsibility to the audience who's been so loyal to us for so long. And that keeps me motivated. There's a responsibility to my guests, you know, these people who've achieved amazing things and have stories to tell. And I owe it to them to make sure that I have what's hopefully a thoughtful, career spanning interview when I sit down with them and I'm prepared for it. But other than that, like, I don't look at anybody in Hollywood, anybody in the entire landscape, and say like, oh, I'd rather have that, or I want that next, or whatever. Like, I really wouldn't trade places with anybody. I'm very comfortable in the lazy boy that I'm in.

• 20:13Keke Palmer?

  That's the Midwest.

• 20:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:14Keke Palmer?

  That is the Midwest, straight up. Now, you were also a copywriter in Chicago. I was like, look, I was doing my research, too. I tried to get onto Sean Evans of it all. What type of stuff would you write about?

• 20:28Speaker 01

  Hmm. So actually, it was like, um, it was like, the city's tourism agency was called Choose Chicago. I don't know what it's called now. Maybe it's still called Choose Chicago. But sometimes I'll see the billboards up in in New York. But it's like, basically working for the city to promote the city of Chicago on a tourism level. So if you ever see, like, in New York, you go to a bus stop, and there's some sort of aerial shot of Lake Michigan and the beach and the weather and like, they're like, visit Chicago, you know? It was, it was doing that sort of stuff.

• 20:56Keke Palmer?

  Wow. So if you were a copywriter today, what would you be writing about?

• 20:58Speaker 01

  I don't know. That's the other side of it, too, is to be like, I don't even know, like, it's like, oh, if you didn't have this job, what would you be doing? I would not be, I was not a great copywriter, you know what I mean?

• 21:08Keke Palmer?

  That's hilarious.

• 21:08Speaker 01

  I had to get out of there. Um, but, uh...

• 21:10Keke Palmer?

  You're hilarious.

• 21:11Speaker 01

  I don't know if I do anything. I can only eat wings and ask questions, I think. That's it. I'm doing exactly what I'm meant to do.

• 21:17Keke Palmer?

  What is the trick of getting somebody, aside from the wings of it all, to get comfortable and talk the way that they do on Hot Ones?

• 21:24Speaker 01

  I think it's a good question. We could probably collab on this answer, you know?

• 21:29Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 21:36Keke Palmer?

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• 22:21Keke Palmer?

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• 22:38Speaker 01

  But I think in a lot of these cases, the interviews that I'm doing are dependent on the generosity of the guest, you know, and the effort of the guest, you know, of meeting me halfway. And I think, you know, if you walk into an interview setting and you can tell that someone has done the research, they care about the things that you've made or they care about telling your story, then you're gonna extend for that person more so than if you felt like it was just a scratch and repeat kind of interview, you know? So I always think that we have a lot of hoops that people are jumping through. Like we're having like, oh, the next wing is homegrown hell. Like if you, you know, like, how am I gonna get that person to extend for me? Like, how am I gonna get that?

• 23:21Speaker 01

  person to have a good attitude and eat the next wing, you know, like, how am I gonna keep them tethered to the format of the show? And I think it's through that effort on our side on doing the interview where like, hopefully the guest, even if they're not enjoying the wing so much, or they're enjoying the interview more than they do most interviews. So I think that that's always the goal in that, or that's always the way to thread the needle. The other thing that I think about is it's so crazy to do an interview on camera, right? Like, everything about it is crazy. I'm meeting somebody usually for the first time. And in that, we have to create this rhythm, this energy, this sensitive trust, this chemistry.

• 24:01Speaker 01

  Uh, and then we're doing it in this ridiculous context of having all these cameras pointed at us and then presenting it publicly. Like, really, that should fail like 95% of the time, you know?

• 24:12Keke Palmer?

  So true. It's so awkward.

• 24:13Speaker 01

  So I think that coming in prepared and like having all of that as a backstop and then hoping for the best.

• 24:20Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 24:20Speaker 01

  Is the best chance to make that all work, or at least that's what I've taught myself.

• 24:24Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, I mean, it makes me think about what you said with the whole David Letterman thing is that there's a, there's an element to that that keeps it grounded. That the awareness that you have, that even your personality is when we're having these conversations with you is kind of like, hey, this is just a thing. And it makes it feel a little bit more chill. What do you feel like you've, you learned about human nature? I mean, you've spent so many times talking to people, asking them questions. What do you feel like is a consistency that you've realized across the board?

• 24:49Speaker 01

  Well, I think the consistent thing is the inconsistency in everybody's story. Like, everybody's path is so different, you know, and it's like athlete to athlete, the path is completely different. Actor to actor, musician to musician, you know, like, nobody has the exact same route that they've taken to get to where they are, even if they're on the same red carpets or in the same film or whatever. So I think that it's that side of it, how many different shapes and colors this whole thing can take. Um, and it's also like, I think taught me something about like the spirit of it all, you know, like we'll put these people in uncomfortable situations. I always joke that it's like the most comfortable, least comfortable interview that you'll ever do. But it's just on the other side of it, it's people fighting through that when they really do not have to.

• 25:34Keke Palmer?

  Yeah. Well, I saw Demi and she was like walking like a walk in a park. I was like.

• 25:38Speaker 01

  She asked us if we have anything hotter.

• 25:40Keke Palmer?

  That was crazy. And for you, does it ever get too damn hot? I mean, you know, I know you said you grew up watching the Bears and eating hot salsa with your dad.

• 25:47Speaker 01

  You did do your research, Kiki. Good God.

• 25:51Keke Palmer?

  So you're used to hot stuff, but do you ever get tired? Like, are you like taking acid reflux like?

• 25:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, I, I think I take better care of myself outside of the show because of the physical toll of the show. So I think ultimately it's a net positive. Maybe I'm an idiot and I'm just talking myself into something, but that's the way I look at it. But it does sometimes get uncomfortable for me, you know, like the bomb beyond insanity is the bomb beyond insanity, you know?

• 26:15Keke Palmer?

  It really is.

• 26:16Speaker 01

  Sometimes I get like a little head high and I'm sweating and, you know, like I, I feel the adrenaline rush of it all, just as our guest would. I think the only thing is I'm more used to it. Like I know no matter the dark place that I'm in, that the sun will come out eventually. And I do feel a responsibility to put up a confident, calm front for the guest.

• 26:35Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 26:35Speaker 01

  Because if I'm freaking out, then what are you gonna be doing?

• 26:39Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 26:39Speaker 01

  If you ever went on Bear Grylls running wild and he wants you to rappel down a cliffside, but he's all nervous putting the harness on or whatever, you're not gonna follow him. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

• 26:49Keke Palmer?

  You know, you, what I'm also thinking too, I don't know if I thought about it ever when we did our interviews. Maybe I thought or assumed that it was just like your interview style, but you have such a rhythmic voice. A very rhythmic talking voice.

• 27:00Speaker 01

  I am a contaminator kind of thing.

• 27:02Keke Palmer?

  If you're only going in there and then I can't memorize, I can't do it, but I'm gonna learn it. But you have such a type of voice. It's good to listen to and follow. I'm literally going on a roller coaster with you when you're talking.

• 27:15Speaker 01

  There's a rhythm and syntax. I think to the way I write, but also to the way I speak.

• 27:19Keke Palmer?

  That's so interesting.

• 27:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:20Keke Palmer?

  Now, back in 2017, you went on the Rocks diet. What was that about? What made you want to go on The Rock's diet? And what did it include?

• 27:29Speaker 01

  So I think this would be pre-hot ones days. And I do remember the research. Yeah, look at you. Look at you.

• 27:34Keke Palmer?

  I had to do that.

• 27:35Speaker 01

  Wink, little wink. So that was before hot ones. But again, this is complex. Like, hey, you got to come up with videos because there's going to be a magazine around much longer. So, um, yeah, it was an idea. I remember reading this book in college called Paper Lion about this writer who would do these different experiences. Like, he was playing with the Detroit Lions through training camp and all these different things. And I was always like, oh, that's a cool thing that this guy is doing. So let me try to do that where I live a day or as somebody else. Do a different thing. But The Rock's diet, what I remember about that is he, it would be like this giant plate of brown rice and vegetables and like cod. Disgusting.

• 28:19Speaker 01

  And then each plate would weigh as much as like a Range Rover tire. You know, it's just this very dense food and a lot of it. So I would just be shoveling that food and it would be, you know, kind of gross to get at the end and you're uncomfortable.

• 28:33Keke Palmer?

  Matilda with that cake.

• 28:34Speaker 01

  But then he's on this, exactly. But I wish it was cake. It was just cod and brown rice. So, uh, but when you'd finish the meal, he's on, you know, a two hour interval thing. So like by the time he'd finished, the next one's on the way. That was brutal. That was brutal. Brutal memories. I'd much rather do hot ones, yeah.

• 28:56Keke Palmer?

  What is your favorite movie? Top three?

• 28:58Speaker 01

  Ooh, top three. Um, so I love The Dark Knight. So that was.

• 29:04Keke Palmer?

  Oh, good.

• 29:05Speaker 01

  I used to do, uh, architecture tours of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. And it was like while they were filming that, while they were filming that in Chicago. So I'd see, you know, a lower whacker, like an overturned ambulance and all these like Gotham police cars all over the place. So I remember like seeing the making of it while it was happening and then going to the, um, then going to the midnight screening and like loving it so much. But I feel like I kind of was in it while it was happening and then it scratched that itch on the other side. So I felt some kind of connection to it. I love this movie. Nobody's ever seen it called Windy City Heat, which is like this.

• 29:38Keke Palmer?

  Who's that with?

• 29:39Speaker 01

  Deep cult classic comedy.

• 29:41Keke Palmer?

  Starring?

• 29:42Speaker 01

  Perry Caravello. Nobody's going to know this, but I think it's time that I spread the good word. But it's all this like. Elaborate, practical joke, like Jimmy Kimmel produced it. It's this elaborate, practical joke where they have this guy believing that he's the star of a movie.

• 29:57Keke Palmer?

  Oh, no.

• 29:57Speaker 01

  And they go through the whole thing and it's all very real. And, you know, you kind of see the way like the ego of it and the twists and turns and all that they put this guy through. But I've seen that movie like fifty times. It makes me, no, he doesn't. He's the only one that's not in it.

• 30:14Keke Palmer?

  No, no, no.

• 30:15Speaker 01

  I know, it's the meanest.

• 30:16Keke Palmer?

  That's like the Truman Show.

• 30:17Speaker 01

  It's the meanest, yeah, it's like the meanest joke ever, but it's so insanely funny. I've watched the movie like fifty times, laugh every time I see it. The Windy City Heat. I'm glad I could, glad I could borrow the platform to spread the, spread the great gospel of that.

• 30:30Keke Palmer?

  That is hilarious, Tom.

• 30:32Speaker 01

  And then third would be, this is a good question, I almost want to like.

• 30:36Keke Palmer?

  It tells you so much about somebody.

• 30:38Speaker 01

  I know, I know, this is good, this is good.

• 30:44Speaker 01

  Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? is a movie that I love.

• 30:47Keke Palmer?

  That is deep.

• 30:48Speaker 01

  I've got a lot of range, I've got a lot of range over here.

• 30:51Keke Palmer?

  There's a lot of weight to it, I mean, Dark Knight got a lot of weight to it, it's a commercial, but it's a heavy one, that Christopher Nolan. And then we have Brother, Where Art Thou? That's tough, what do you love about that one?

• 31:02Speaker 01

  I like the music, I like the spectacle of it all, I like the kind of odyssey journey of it all. Every part of it, I love the dialogue, just, I don't know, like the Coen Brothers way of doing dialogue is always.

• 31:19Keke Palmer?

  Unique.

• 31:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, always a thing for me and also too, because I'm on the spot and I feel like the walls are closing in and I had to reach back, I had to reach in the bag and grab one and throw it out real quick.

• 31:28Keke Palmer?

  Okay, what shows did you grow up watching?

• 31:31Speaker 01

  Like the seminal shows of my youth, we grew up in a good time, you know, the nineties.

• 31:36Keke Palmer?

  DJ Fridays?

• 31:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, of course, that was a huge for me. But that was, yeah, Family Matters and Boy Meets World and the Step by Step.

• 31:43Keke Palmer?

  Come on, Step by Step.

• 31:45Speaker 01

  Day by day. Fresh start over a different hand to play.

• 31:52Speaker 01

  I love TGIF, yeah, that was a great time.

• 31:55Keke Palmer?

  That was such a good time.

• 31:57Speaker 01

  And I often think that with Hot Ones, the thing that I'm always inspired by when I think about it, is I actually want the viewer experience of it to be more like a Family Matters, or more like a Family Matters than it is like a Charlie Rose interview. Like, I always think there's like some sort of sentimentality or like nostalgia. I always think about like the Christmas specials of like Family Matters or whatever, and like what those did, and I always feel like I want that same watch experience with Hot Ones. TGIF was, in a lot of ways, formative for like how I look at escapism television.

• 32:28Keke Palmer?

  Absolutely. And also very, I look back on that stuff and sometimes I think I probably can over just contextualize pop culture, it's just like I'm always trying to...

• 32:37Speaker 01

  But it's also you're in the soup of it all, too.

• 32:39Keke Palmer?

  And I'm like, what does it mean to me? Like, I'm watching Sabrina, Teenage Witch, and I'm like, wow, it was about our internal world. Like, I'm always going so deep with everything. So, growing up for you, like, what music were you listening to?

• 32:51Speaker 01

  I was a 90s rap kid, you know, through and through. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I remember, you know, at a very early age...

• 32:57Keke Palmer?

  Like Tupac, Biggie?

• 32:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, the first... The first, I'm trying to think, like, the first CD I ever bought. I think I went and I got, um, Coolio, Gangsta's Paradise.

• 33:08Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my gosh!

• 33:10Speaker 01

  TLC, Crazy Sexy Cool.

• 33:12Keke Palmer?

  Yes!

• 33:13Speaker 01

  Bone Thugs, East 1999. I think that was my first ever record store.

• 33:17Keke Palmer?

  Bone Thugs, Harmony was it. That video was scary. I recently went and looked...

• 33:21Speaker 01

  Crossroads, you went and watched Crossroads again?

• 33:22Keke Palmer?

  That video was scary, like, everybody was gone. Like, it was actually really... And it's so funny, you're talking about Coolio, why was I watching Dangerous Minds not too long ago? And that movie's insane. Michelle Pfeiffer goes to like the black lady house to tell her, like, your sons need to come back to school, you know, whatever, like, "We ain't raising no doctors and lawyers." Why, why would that mama say that? It was just crazy. Some of those like white saving movies from that era were insane. She's going to the ladies' house and be like, "Your son, they need to come to school." "We ain't raising no doctors and lawyers." Why?

• 33:58Speaker 01

  Why are you painting yourself in a corner that way?

• 34:00Keke Palmer?

  It's so funny.

• 34:01Speaker 01

  But yeah, I remember, yeah, like my mom would have to go and buy, you know, because it had the rental sticker on there.

• 34:05Keke Palmer?

  Oh my gosh, blockbuster.

• 34:06Speaker 01

  I was, yeah, yeah, I was going to, where was I going? There's a store in Crystal Lake called, uh, Flipside, I remember. Best Buy.

• 34:14Keke Palmer?

  Best Buy, do we still have, we still have them, right?

• 34:16Speaker 01

  I hope, I hope, yeah.

• 34:17Keke Palmer?

  Fries is what I'm thinking of.

• 34:19Speaker 01

  The retail hasn't fallen off, yeah.

• 34:21Keke Palmer?

  Okay, so, your questions are famously detailed. At what point does the research become a great question? Like, when do you know, are you like, I mean, I don't want your, uh, you give me your IP for how you do it, but is it like, things people don't know about so and so?

• 34:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. I think a, a good thing to do is to start local, like where they are, right?

• 34:42Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 34:42Speaker 01

  So if you, you have a guest and, I don't know, they're from upstate New York,

• 34:47Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 34:47Speaker 01

  and they're an actor, and maybe they were starting off in, you know, like some sort of theater scene somewhere, you know? And like, somebody's going to be writing about that stuff. Or, um, if you're interviewing Viola Davis, for example, and like, she's at Juilliard, like, what was Juilliard writing about her? You know, like, when she first started to bubble up, you know, like, because those are the first outlets, the first eyes that are gonna see somebody rising. So that's like a good place to start, is in, like, regionality is kind of important when you're like looking for sources. Um, and then also too, just, uh, expose yourself to as much information as you possibly can. So, yes, like, read all the magazine profiles, do all of that stuff. I also think it's a good idea, and this is probably something that's happened more so over the last couple of years, but,

• 35:32Speaker 01

  if they're an actor, watch the movies, you know, like,

• 35:35Keke Palmer?

  You're right.

• 35:36Speaker 01

  End your night with a double feature, like, if they're, um, an artist, like, rather than like watching every interview, you should listen to the album, because a lot of times, the, uh, artistic expression of these people will tell you just as much about them, if not more than the things that you're reading, the profiles that you're reading, the interviews that you're watching, whatever.

• 35:53Keke Palmer?

  Was this always your style and what you discovered, or when you decided to do Hot Ones, it was kind of like, this is the approach I'm going to take?

• 35:59Speaker 01

  Well, eh, no, I think when we first started, I think the vision of it was that it would be this kind of internet sideshow, Super Bowl event. Like, maybe we'd just put out like four a year, or something.

• 36:11Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 36:11Speaker 01

  I certainly didn't think we'd be programming it.

• 36:13Keke Palmer?

  Right.

• 36:14Speaker 01

  Every single week when we first started. And I think back in the day, the idea was more of, you know, the heat is on, like swinging interrogation light sort of situation. Like, it was much more, um, Aggressive and adversarial in tone, I think, when it first started, our idea for it.

• 36:31Keke Palmer?

  Wow.

• 36:32Speaker 01

  But I think over time, uh, what ended up happening was there was this cult audience that rallied around it early on. That wasn't a big, huge hit or anything, but it would be the same people that were like in the comments every week, you know, so that made me feel good.

• 36:46Keke Palmer?

  That's huge, that retention.

• 36:47Speaker 01

  Right. That's like, they're not just rallying for this specific guest. Like, these are people who are watching every week regardless of who the, uh, yeah. And then I think that that really inspired me because it gave me an idea of its potential. Because I never had huge dreams for the show, but I'm like, wait a second. Every eye that we get in the tent, every set of eyes that we get in the tent stays in the tent. You know, so if we can just grow this tent, well, what's going to make this thing grow? We have this interesting spectacle, you know, but that can only take you so far. If you have what is unimpeachably, uh, an excellent or viable interview show, and then you combine it with this novel hook.

• 37:24Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 37:25Speaker 01

  That's how you can have a hit that lasts for a long time. But you can't have one without the other and have that kind of longevity. So it was really the fans that rallied around the show early on that made us think we really need to elevate it.

• 37:38Keke Palmer?

  What episode or what few episodes was the turning point of you realizing, maybe this is going like somewhere crazy?

• 37:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think, it didn't take long. I knew it was a crazy show from the first episodes that we shot. I think like Machine Gun Kelly was like the second episode that we shot and he's standing on the table, he's doing laps around the room. And you know, when something's going crazy in the studio, it's going to translate to camera even better, you know?

• 38:03Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 38:03Speaker 01

  So I remember like while that was happening, I was like, this is insane. There's no show like this. This is totally, it's, it's real, it's wild, it's spectacle, all of that. I'm like, once we publish this and present it, people are gonna be like, what the [bleep]? You know, like it's gonna blow people's minds. So I remember feeling that before an audience ever caught up to it all. But that would be interesting. I would imagine if I pinpointed, it's like somewhere in the middle of season two. Is when I think we started to kind of like catch a rhythm and I remember in college, I'd watch a lot of Nardwar interviews. And I always remember, you know, when he's startling people with information, what he's creating is a real human reaction. You know, you have, he's snapping people out of that PR-driven flight patterns. That was always really inspiring for me.

• 38:47Speaker 01

  So I think the first time that, like, when that started happening on our show, I'm like, oh, this is great. Because you have true human reactions to the spice. You have true human reactions to the interview. And that punctures the whole artifice of, like we talked about earlier, this completely ridiculous setup that we're all in.

• 39:03Keke Palmer?

  How's it working with your brother? Because I know you're from the Gavin.

• 39:12Keke Palmer?

  I have so much in here.

• 39:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, you have a lot of cards. You know what? He's great.

• 39:19Keke Palmer?

  Was it from the beginning or were you like, come on, I need my brother to be a part of it?

• 39:21Speaker 01

  Super early on. He's probably been working with us now for seven or eight years. Yeah. And actually, the whole show, you know, Hot Ones, the company's grown, First We Feast has grown. But really doing Hot Ones has not changed since the beginning and all the same people are doing it. You know, I've had the same producer for eight or nine years, worked with my brother this whole time. Me and Chris, obviously, from day one, you know, but yeah, I remember our camera guys are all the same. Sound guy, you know, it's just, it's just always been the exact same way all the way through. And then I do appreciate it because it's like when it's your brother, you don't really have to manage him.

• 39:57Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 39:58Speaker 01

  I just send a text, hey, we're shooting with this person on 4/18, you know, need the packet by 4:15. And then he just thumbs it up, you know, I don't have to.

• 40:10Keke Palmer?

  Baby brother?

• 40:11Speaker 01

  Baby brother, yeah.

• 40:11Keke Palmer?

  Baby brother, it's just y'all two? It's just y'all two?

• 40:14Speaker 01

  Just us. Just us.

• 40:16Keke Palmer?

  The way that you looked and smiled made me feel like it was a transition.

• 40:20Speaker 01

  It's just us.

• 40:21Keke Palmer?

  Okay, just you guys two. What kind of brother were you?

• 40:24Speaker 01

  Um, he was a couple of years younger than me, but it was the... You know, that's a good question. I think...

• 40:31Keke Palmer?

  I was a very annoying little sister. Really bad.

• 40:34Speaker 01

  I think, yeah, I wonder, I mean, I, I think it's almost the same role that I'm having now, I feel like, where I'm just, I'm still kind of a big brother to him, I feel like.

• 40:43Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 40:43Speaker 01

  Um, and that hasn't changed much. I, I think...

• 40:47Keke Palmer?

  So helpful. Never, not, not like Pete and Pete. You weren't like...

• 40:49Speaker 01

  No, yeah, yeah, yeah. We weren't, we weren't at each other's throats or anything like that. It's just a good, like, not too hot, not too cold relationship, you know, sort of thing. Or Goldilocks just right, I think.

• 41:01Keke Palmer?

  Love that. Shout out to Gavin.

• 41:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, to Gavin.

• 41:04Keke Palmer?

  Is there ever any pressure that you have to stay consistent, you know, with, you know, because again, people have all these high expectations for the show.

• 41:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 41:12Keke Palmer?

  Do you get to a point where it's like, okay, we're gonna have to cut, you know what I mean? It's like we're at the season, last season, a loss, boom. You know, like, do you, how do you feel about that?

• 41:19Speaker 01

  Overall, I think an interview is something that, no one's naturally good at it. I think you have to, it's like stand-up, like you just have to get on stage and fail 100 times before you can start to identify a perspective or a point of view. And then I think too, the longer you do it and the more that you commit to it, especially as like, you start to rise or the show starts to rise, because a big thing is when a guest comes in is getting them to trust me and trust the process, you know? That's always like, I think, the hardest hurdle that you have to jump, and you have to jump it quickly. And now, so many people kind of walk in already trusting me or already trusting the process, because it's gotten to a level where they want to be on the show rather than us persuading them to be on the show. So all of that, I think, actually makes my job a little bit easier.

• 42:01Speaker 01

  I think gives me a better ability to get something good out of people when I sit down with them. But I also think, like you were saying, the expectations, I, I try to have a healthy outlook on it, where, you know, try to aim for everything being a seven or an eight, you know? You'll have some tens, you know, and you'll have some bricks. Hopefully you have more tens than you have bricks. But if the viewer experience is consistently a seven or an eight, that's how you get longevity out of things. So I try not to, I try not to beat myself up about like, not everything being a 10 all of the time, like not everything being an instant classic or huge hit all of the time. Just make the viewer experience of that a seven or an eight, and that's enough to like, scratch the itch every single time.

• 42:44Speaker 01

  And I also am kind of like, um...

• 42:49Speaker 01

  Trying to wrap my head around the ebbs and flows of it all, you know?

• 42:53Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 42:55Speaker 01

  Just on this given day, I'm sitting down with this person. We have this time, try to meet the moment, make the best out of it. Good things happen.

• 43:04Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 43:04Speaker 01

  When you have that kind of approach. And so I just try to stay small and stay consistent. Like, don't think bigger than the next shoot, the next project, the next day.

• 43:12Keke Palmer?

  Yeah. Again, it's very Midwest. Now, you have an interesting take on cancel culture where you talk about shows and podcasts like this and, you know, if they should be held accountable for having certain people on. How do you feel about that when it comes to interview shows?

• 43:25Speaker 01

  Hmm. Uh, well, I don't think like if you're a host of a show that you're necessarily like responsible for the guest's behavior in perpetuity forever. And I also don't think that, uh...

• 43:38Speaker 01

  I also, yeah, yeah.

• 43:41Speaker 01

  Extend some grace for yourself.

• 43:42Keke Palmer?

  Right.

• 43:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're not responsible for what I do five years from now and this video being up. But I also don't know if it's like the place of a talk show host to be like the arbiter of what is and what is not okay, you know? And then I also think though, there's other sides of it where, um, you know, there's a certain responsibility, I think, you know, like there's, I think there's certain guests or certain things where it's like more of a journalism setting than it is an entertainment setting.

• 44:09Keke Palmer?

  Right.

• 44:10Speaker 01

  And in that case, I think there are different rules involved, but, um, but overall, you know, like there's times you just have to like bring somebody in or like, you know, you're shooting with somebody, like if you agreed to do it, you know?

• 44:23Keke Palmer?

  Yeah. I'm always thinking about that, especially with my podcasts is how can I contextualize this and show awareness around something, but then still allow the conversation to pose as something for the audience to get, engage on, on any given topic.

• 44:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, right.

• 44:38Keke Palmer?

  You know, because sometimes it does feel like, or the idea is often, this is just something thoughtless, you know, as opposed to, no, this should mean something.

• 44:47Speaker 01

  Right.

• 44:47Keke Palmer?

  And we should, even if this is not somebody that I agree with or have the same ideas as, at least it's something for you to engage with and talk about that I'm platforming that leads to a bigger discussion.

• 44:56Speaker 01

  Right.

• 44:57Keke Palmer?

  And I think it gets, it's difficult to figure out how to, how to, exactly how to handle that sometimes.

• 45:01Speaker 01

  Right, or throw that needle because sometimes like the tide, the feedback that comes in, and too, I don't know, sometimes you can get it wrong.

• 45:07Keke Palmer?

  Right.

• 45:07Speaker 01

  You know, sometimes you can just step in it and mess up too.

• 45:10Keke Palmer?

  Yes, exactly.

• 45:10Speaker 01

  So, uh, that's the other side of it, but ultimately, you know, just, uh, next day, next year.

• 45:15Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, yeah, exactly.

• 45:18Keke Palmer?

  Very much next day, next shoot. Okay, well, I mean, it's important for me to talk about me being on Hot Wheels.

• 45:25Speaker 01

  Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 45:25Keke Palmer?

  That's a big deal.

• 45:32Keke Palmer?

  There is a very specific kind of joy that happens when you get three generations of your family all under one roof. And if you know, you know. I'm talking about mom teaching the grandkids something in the backyard, daddy on the grill doing what he does best, the cousins running around being feral in the best way possible. And let me tell you, that kind of moment, you're not really getting that in a hotel. In a hotel, everybody ends up in their own room, doors closed, doing their own thing. Starts to feel more like a logistics exercise than a family memory. But when I book a stay on Airbnb, like when I went to Big Bear, ugh, it's a whole different vibe. You get a real home in a real neighborhood with enough space so nobody's on top of each other, but still close enough that everybody's part of the same story.

• 46:17Keke Palmer?

  And that's what makes it special. Spring is the perfect time to do it before summer gets hectic and everybody's schedules take over. Find a home on Airbnb and get your whole family under one roof. Trust me, that's where the magic is.

• 46:35Keke Palmer?

  Do I get a crown or something? Because I actually feel like I've been on the most times.

• 46:38Speaker 01

  I think you have actually been on the most times because we have to, you have to factor in the studio the first time.

• 46:45Keke Palmer?

  Yep.

• 46:45Speaker 01

  We did an episode during the morning.

• 46:47Keke Palmer?

  This was got a little sweetness to it.

• 46:48Speaker 01

  This got a little sweetness to it.

• 46:51Keke Palmer?

  I don't know how that always happens with me and you. It's so cool. It's so random that all these, I'll never forget, even that first one, that was just the most fun ever.

• 47:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think it's like, because you probably didn't totally know what you were walking into. And then I feel like it was one of those where like the show kind of won you over while it was happening, maybe?

• 47:12Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 47:12Speaker 01

  And then it was probably, you tell me, was it kind of surprising to you, the reaction that it got on the other side? You know, you do like so many interviews. But then this one, it almost becomes like a, it almost becomes like a line on your IMDb or something.

• 47:26Keke Palmer?

  I mean, I feel like that became the beginning of my, of the whole meme thing with me.

• 47:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:29Keke Palmer?

  You know what I mean? When people saw me on that first one with you, where I'm like trying my hardest to X, Y, and Z and stay up and that was the first, I think that might have been one of the first time that I ever saw me getting memed.

• 47:39Speaker 01

  You were making deposits to the meme economy that day.

• 47:43Keke Palmer?

  NFTs everywhere, no. So yeah, that, yeah, that was incredible. Um, why do you think I was a good Hot Ones guest?

• 47:50Speaker 01

  Because you're, there's a lot of reasons that you're a great guest. But you're obviously very charismatic. You're smart. You're beautiful. You're, you have a way of talking about the stuff that you do. You know, you're like, you'll, uh, you'll say something smart or thoughtful and then you'll provide an example from your career and then you'll undercut that with like a little joke. And I think it just keeps the rhythm of all of that. But then also too, I think that we all give off like kind of gigawatt frequencies, you know, like sometimes they just naturally match with people.

• 48:23Keke Palmer?

  You're really good. That's what I'm telling you, like the vibe that, I do think that's why it's so special. Whenever we did the Hot Ones, whenever we talking and hanging out and people are always gagging about it because we do, it's like we both being like.

• 48:33Speaker 01

  Just dance.

• 48:34Keke Palmer?

  We're just dancing. What was the, uh, the feedback you got when people saw us?

• 48:42Speaker 01

  I just got a lot of like, that's my dog. You know, like, like that, just a lot of, it really, I, you know, I don't know what it did for you, but it was great for my stock.

• 48:50Keke Palmer?

  It was great for me as well.

• 48:51Speaker 01

  It was great for me as well.

• 48:53Keke Palmer?

  I mean, the comp, first of all, they're gonna be ready for this because they like, just wanna see us together all the time.

• 48:59Speaker 01

  Right, right. Well, I always think that, I think that sometimes I'm like, we could never go broke cause ultimately we could just, we could just do like, this is my dream for when we get, we're old New Yorkers.

• 49:08Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 49:08Speaker 01

  Is we do the, uh, we do the coffee mug, coffee table, like morning shows, you know?

• 49:13Keke Palmer?

  Oh my gosh.

• 49:13Speaker 01

  This is, this is, this is the thing.

• 49:15Keke Palmer?

  With Sonny and Sherri.

• 49:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 49:20Speaker 01

  Mark and Kelly.

• 49:21Keke Palmer?

  Now, oh my gosh. Yes. I love us waking up with America. Good morning, guys.

• 49:27Speaker 01

  That's what we could call it, yeah.

• 49:28Keke Palmer?

  Sean and Kiki. Kiki and Sean. In Chicago.

• 49:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, let's, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure, yeah, Perry Caravel will be our first guest. Yeah, we can, uh, yeah, gosh.

• 49:38Keke Palmer?

  That is too funny.

• 49:39Speaker 01

  Now I'm kind of in love with this idea.

• 49:40Keke Palmer?

  I actually love it as well. I do love me and you something more.

• 49:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's do that.

• 49:45Keke Palmer?

  Something good here.

• 49:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 49:47Keke Palmer?

  I mean, how does it feel now that you're in the talent space as well? I mean, it was like, I'm, I'm interviewing, but then now like, I'm a celebrity and like people are in my business too. Like, what do you feel of it?

• 49:56Speaker 01

  Uh, you know, um.

• 49:59Speaker 01

  It's all very exciting and fun and kind of a cartoon world, you know, that I try not to take too seriously or whatever. And, um, you know, but it's also a chance to learn new skills, learn new things. How do I pose on a red carpet? You know, like, how do I handle all of these different situations, scenarios? I think it all helps the day job, you know, to go through all of these things. Um, and it's, I don't know, it's just, it's, it's strange to kind of look at where we started and then these different kind of mile markers that you hit along the way. And you're like, whoa, what the hell happened? Cause it happens so slow. I feel like, I feel like I was like a frog that was just boiled one degree at a time.

• 50:39Speaker 01

  So I didn't feel it get so hot all of a sudden. Um, and so then now I'm just trying to catch up and react to it. But, you know, I like, somebody's going to dress me for an award show and like, oh, this is elevating my taste level. Like to something that I'm not capable of as a nineties kid from suburban Crystal Lake, Illinois. You know, and like all of these different things, um, that are all super exciting and fun. But, uh, I do just, I love my studio, you know, like that's still home for me and, and, uh, but it's fun, I guess, to get out on a Friday night.

• 51:11Keke Palmer?

  How does it affect your dating life? Like, do you feel like you have to now be more cautious?

• 51:15Speaker 01

  I think, yeah, that, but that could be dating life. That could be anything. I think like there is like a whole, uh, way in which you have to be more that, you know, as a midwife, I'd be like, oh, everybody's just my friend. And everybody has good intentions for me or whatever. And I think, um,

• 51:28Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 51:29Speaker 01

  I think that you have to be more cautious about like anything, like anybody that comes in your life, anything that comes in your life.

• 51:36Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 51:37Speaker 01

  Offers that come in, you know, like there's lots of different things, I think, where you have to be a lot more skeptical than my, you know, Midwest roots would want me to be.

• 51:45Keke Palmer?

  Is there a thing that you go by, like, you know, when you're entering new situations, whether they be relational or business wise, that you kind of help you to check off?

• 51:54Speaker 01

  I think I have like a good, small circle around me, you know, like I just, there's people that are, uh, I don't have, you know, a, a big team or like a big circle or anything. It's super tight, but everybody's really, really connected. So I I always just try to get perspectives outside of my own, you know, like trust my own gut, but also too, just the people around me as much as possible.

• 52:15Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, community is everything.

• 52:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:17Keke Palmer?

  Also, you petitioned to have, uh, Hot Ones nominated for an Emmy.

• 52:22Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 52:22Keke Palmer?

  That was a pretty incredible thing. What made you decide to do that?

• 52:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, I didn't, uh, you know what? Actually, to be honest with you, when I saw that, that was news to me. You know, like, like I, I saw that, um, you know, like, I'd like somebody, you know, sent me an article and,

• 52:37Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 52:37Speaker 01

  and, uh, I was like, oh, okay.

• 52:40Keke Palmer?

  Right.

• 52:40Speaker 01

  I guess.

• 52:40Keke Palmer?

  So did somebody else put it together?

• 52:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, so maybe Auntie, maybe somebody from Auntie's side, actually.

• 52:48Keke Palmer?

  But I mean, I feel that it does deserve it though. So it does make sense to me.

• 52:51Speaker 01

  Well, I, I think that ultimately, when I think about all of these things, it's like, um, Late Night was always the de facto cultural reference point for where you could find celebrities in looser and edgier environments.

• 53:03Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 53:04Speaker 01

  So it's like, in that way, Hot Ones, uh, is worthy of competition and comparison with all of those sort of traditionally, you know, award shows types, like nominees. And then on top of it, like when you look at the cultural penetration, the performance, the eyeballs, like all of those different things. I think it does come to a point where even if it's not us or if it's not Hot Ones, like that is the future.

• 53:26Keke Palmer?

  Exactly.

• 53:27Speaker 01

  Like we said, you know, there's this entire ecosystem of celebrity interview shows that are on the internet now, like, there's gonna be more of them in 10 years and 15 and 20 and the best ones are gonna come out. Like anybody who makes something new is gonna do it here first. Um, so I think like, ultimately, those doors will open at some point and I guess Hot Ones is just kinda knocking on them right now.

• 53:48Keke Palmer?

  Yeah. I mean, then you also were named one of Time 100's most influential creators. How does that feel?

• 53:55Speaker 01

  You know, these are, they're all like fun and exciting things, you know?

• 53:58Keke Palmer?

  I live for fun and excitement. All I think about is your mom being so sweet. You're like, you're like, it's just lovely, you know, and I just, you know, it's great.

• 54:05Speaker 01

  It's, yeah, it is. Uh, but ultimately, I, I, the thing that, the drug that I'm always chasing or the itch that I'm always trying to scratch is just big, good episodes, you know, like,

• 54:13Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 54:14Speaker 01

  good interviews, like, um, like we were talking about with Family Matters and, you know, Just to remember the kind of feeling that I got from escapism television, especially at times when I really needed it. And so I just think like the ultimate privilege is now to be a conduit for that exact same feeling. You know, just for a new generation. So all these different fun things that are happening in my life and all these different sort of layers that get added to the cake every year, like it's all really cool, but um, the thing that I'm always chasing and that I'm always inspired and always focused on is just making bangers.

• 54:45Keke Palmer?

  Yeah. Have you ever had Barack Obama on?

• 54:47Speaker 01

  No, I've uh, never had Barack Obama on.

• 54:50Keke Palmer?

  Barack would love it.

• 54:50Speaker 01

  I wonder what the Secret Service uh, wing situation would be like, you know, can we just?

• 54:56Keke Palmer?

  Barack need to come on there.

• 54:59Keke Palmer?

  Wanna see that? Michelle neither?

• 55:01Speaker 01

  No, no, neither one. So maybe someday, but

• 55:03Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 55:04Speaker 01

  I wonder, yeah, I do wonder what like

• 55:05Keke Palmer?

  That would be cool.

• 55:06Speaker 01

  What feeding a world leader scorching hot chicken wings is like, yeah.

• 55:11Keke Palmer?

  I'm gonna tell you one thing.

• 55:13Speaker 01

  These wings are spicy. Wings are hot as

• 55:18Keke Palmer?

  Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, let's get into a quick rapid fire before we get into our game because we just need to know more about you, Sean.

• 55:23Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 55:24Keke Palmer?

  Okay. So let's start with this. Celebrity crush growing up.

• 55:27Speaker 01

  Ooh, uh, growing up was uh, TLC for, or, uh, hold on.

• 55:32Keke Palmer?

  All of them, yeah.

• 55:33Speaker 01

  Hold on.

• 55:33Keke Palmer?

  Crazy sexy angle.

• 55:35Speaker 01

  Celebrity crush growing up, my first one ever was Left Eye from uh, TLC. And I remember at one point, on the topic of TV, there was this episode of Living Single, right? Where the, where TLC would appear.

• 55:47Keke Palmer?

  You was watching Living Single?

• 55:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:48Keke Palmer?

  I know that's right.

• 55:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I was, I was

• 55:51Keke Palmer?

  Yes, Chad.

• 55:52Speaker 01

  Then I was watching New York undercover after Living Single when I was in like third grade. I was, I was a very precocious kid, MTV kid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I remember there was this episode where he's having these like fantasy dreams and in these dreams TLC is appearing in the episode. And I remember seeing Left Eye and like just something happening to me, like my heart dropping and like, you know, just like a thing just happening to me and like walking up to my dad and being like, is it possible for someone who's my age now to grow up and look exactly like someone who's a grown up now? Like, cause I was like, I know I'm too young for Left Eye, but is it possible that there's like a Left Eye to be? Out there who's gonna like 2.0 into a left eye like and I remember he was just reading the paper. I'll never forget this. He just dropped the paper, looked at me and goes, not exactly alike, but pretty similar.

• 56:37Speaker 01

  And then just went back to reading the paper. Like still remember that moment.

• 56:39Keke Palmer?

  It was just such a genuine reply from your dad, which I really love.

• 56:42Speaker 01

  He was just meeting me like, um, yeah.

• 56:44Keke Palmer?

  I remember when I watched Karate Kid and I asked my mom, where is that man now? She was like 40. I'm like, damn, he was so cute to me.

• 56:52Speaker 01

  Not a reality that I wanted to face. Yeah, yeah. He could have lied to me.

• 56:55Keke Palmer?

  I played Chili in a TLC movie.

• 56:56Speaker 01

  I know you did. I know you did. Close enough, absolutely close enough. From where I sit.

• 57:06Keke Palmer?

  Okay, most uncomfortable interview moment?

• 57:10Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 57:11Keke Palmer?

  If you've had it, you don't seem uncomfortable that much.

• 57:13Speaker 01

  No, I actually like despite the format, it is always like such a positive experience on the other side. But I'm trying to think of like uncomfortable moments.

• 57:26Speaker 01

  I mean, like I kind of go back to this, but I love this episode, but I remember like DJ Khaled came in in the first season and tapped out by the third wing. You know, which was like an interesting thing because I have this big, long format. So it was like kind of an interesting thing where I'm sitting across from the person and then they completely like reject the format. You know, like in the beginning and so then I'm like tethered into the machinery of this show and just trying to keep it going. You know, if somebody is not going to participate on the other side, but then I don't know, then there's like a certain. I know, I know, but there's a certain kind of like thing that happens in that episode is like a result of it being so off the wall and gonzo. That it's actually, I think, like one of like the 10 most important episodes we've ever done for that reason.

• 58:07Keke Palmer?

  I'm really going back to that.

• 58:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, go back, go back and watch that one. Yeah, yeah.

• 58:11Keke Palmer?

  Create. Um, favorite place to go for a romantic date?

• 58:15Speaker 01

  Ooh, um, you know, I'm a food guy, you know, like I'm a restaurant guy. There's a, I like, um, I like the. Taste of like oysters or caviar and like champagne.

• 58:28Keke Palmer?

  Ooh, sounds nice and rich.

• 58:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, like that's, I like a celebratory kind of feel to it. Yeah, a little truffle, a little wagyu.

• 58:35Keke Palmer?

  We're like naming everything, duck fat, bone marrow, like every.

• 58:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, all of those things. Yeah. And then like romantic, I'm like, I think maybe I just want to eat or something. Yeah, yeah.

• 58:44Keke Palmer?

  Exactly. It's so funny. One of my favorite restaurants in Chicago is this restaurant called Alenia. Have you ever been?

• 58:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, of course I've been to Alenia.

• 58:51Keke Palmer?

  Oh my gosh. I love deconstructed like food in like this.

• 58:56Speaker 01

  Dinner is theater and all of the, yep.

• 58:58Keke Palmer?

  Oh my gosh. I love murder mystery dinners as well. Very cool stuff. Just telling you.

• 59:04Speaker 01

  I'm taking notes.

• 59:06Keke Palmer?

  What is one thing that you can obsess over?

• 59:09Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 59:10Keke Palmer?

  Any OCD vibes?

• 59:12Speaker 01

  Ooh, I think probably like in certain ways. Obviously obsessed with my job, obsessed with the show. But I'm not like overly obsessed.

• 59:22Keke Palmer?

  Yeah.

• 59:23Speaker 01

  About anything. Yeah, I can, I think I'm like kind of fickle. I'm fickle with hobbies and, and all, like, yeah, like what am I into? I'm kind of into like jackets right now. But like other than that, like I have like not much going on.

• 59:35Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, what do you consider a hobby for yourself?

• 59:37Speaker 01

  Um, just, I'm in the park every day, in the gym all the time. I love like a, I love a rooftop pool.

• 59:44Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 59:46Speaker 01

  Rooftop pool, love a resort vacation.

• 59:49Keke Palmer?

  I love all this stuff too.

• 59:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. We're locked in, we're almost there, yeah. It's that gigawatt energy, you know?

• 59:57Keke Palmer?

  Literally. Okay, um, what's your dream Hot Ones guest, dead or alive? I know you've gotten this one a million times.

• 1:00:03Speaker 01

  I think the best one ever, if they were still alive, would be Chris Farley. Like just kind of made in a lab for Hot Ones. And would just be like an iconic, perfect, amazing Hot Ones.

• 1:00:12Keke Palmer?

  I would love to see you with him. I would love to see you with Robin Williams.

• 1:00:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, same. Yeah, Robin Williams is up there too. No, not yet, but that would be.

• 1:00:19Keke Palmer?

  We need Jim.

• 1:00:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, we need Jim. There's a lot that we need.

• 1:00:22Keke Palmer?

  I mean, it's so cool to know, because I feel like in my mind, when I think about Hot Ones, I'm like, they've done everybody under the sun. But it's cool for us to realize maybe there is some more, because I feel like you guys have done so much great stuff. But it's like, it's so great. There's still so much more.

• 1:00:33Speaker 01

  And two. It's like celebrities always evolving and changing. There's always like a freshman class that's coming in. And I was kind of like catching people right before they take off. You know, like I feel like we did that with like Shawn Mendes or Olivia Rodrigo. Or like even Billie Eilish, like when we shot the Billie Eilish episode. It's always like kind of catching people like as they're about to take off. But I always think that that's a really interesting part in their career. Post Malone would be like another one that I feel like we caught on an upswing. So I always I circle those that genre of interview. Like I always love when we're able to book a guest like that.

• 1:01:07Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, right before they reach that point. That's pretty cool. Finish the sentence. The secret to a great interview is, which you've kind of answered this.

• 1:01:18Speaker 01

  Authenticity, I think.

• 1:01:19Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, yeah. Honestly, it's a lot harder than people expect. You know what I mean? Because it's like you said, we're in a room, people are watching. Everyone has naturally, even if you're not an entertainer, people naturally have. You're different when you're being observed.

• 1:01:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:35Keke Palmer?

  Than you would be in your home with no one watching. So getting to that place is definitely a thing.

• 1:01:40Speaker 01

  Where they can kind of like surrender to it or whatever. I always think like the key is to try to get to a point where the cameras and everything is just kind of blacked out. Which I always think is nice because we have that black set and people are dying on spice. Where it just becomes like a tunnel vision where it's like, it's just me and you in here. You know, it's just us. It's just us.

• 1:01:58Keke Palmer?

  It's a trauma bond.

• 1:01:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. That's where I try to get to.

• 1:02:01Keke Palmer?

  OK, so now it's time to do the fun part. We're gonna play a game.

• 1:02:04Speaker 01

  It's been so fun already.

• 1:02:06Keke Palmer?

  Ah, yay! I was really actually, you know, it's actually really nervous, Shawn, because you are really great at what you do. And I wanted you to have just as much fun on my show as I do on yours.

• 1:02:15Speaker 01

  Oh, it's just fun being with you.

• 1:02:20Keke Palmer?

  I turn into Lucille Ball a little bit. Like it becomes like I've become just.

• 1:02:27Keke Palmer?

  Anyway, we're going to get into a fun game of Twister.

• 1:02:30Speaker 01

  OK, cool.

• 1:02:30Keke Palmer?

  You know, I think it would be great for us to get a little physical. Have a little fun. And we're gonna get some questions asked. And we're gonna get to touch it.

• 1:02:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, all right, let's do it. Let's do it.

• 1:02:44Speaker 01

  OK, so Shawn, I've asked you about everything.

• 1:02:46Keke Palmer?

  About art, from living, to lifestyle, to the season thirty coming up of Hot Ones? Thirty seasons?

• 1:02:54Speaker 01

  It's crazy.

• 1:02:54Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my gosh. Is that like, I mean, how are you doing that? That seems like a lifetime of work.

• 1:02:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, you know, just as a Pac-Man, just one pebble after another. I'm lost in the sauce. Ten years went by, it all felt like three weeks.

• 1:03:06Keke Palmer?

  Oh, my gosh. Congratulations on that premiering. But let's get into some Twister. My mom is here.

• 1:03:11Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:03:11Speaker 02

  Hello.

• 1:03:12Speaker 01

  Good to see you again. It's been a long time since I've seen you.

• 1:03:15Speaker 02

  Yes, yes.

• 1:03:16Keke Palmer?

  This is going to be a fun game of Twister. She's gonna ask us questions.

• 1:03:19Speaker 01

  OK.

• 1:03:20Keke Palmer?

  And we're gonna figure out where our hands and our feet go. OK, Mama.

• 1:03:24Speaker 02

  So I should get started?

• 1:03:25Keke Palmer?

  You should get started.

• 1:03:26Speaker 02

  OK, who goes first? I guess I...

• 1:03:28Keke Palmer?

  I could go first.

• 1:03:28Speaker 02

  OK, OK. Kiki, you go first. All right, so, question. Biggest red flag someone could have?

• 1:03:34Keke Palmer?

  OK, where'd I go?

• 1:03:36Speaker 02

  It says, right hand, yellow.

• 1:03:38Keke Palmer?

  That's it?

• 1:03:39Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:03:40Keke Palmer?

  OK, biggest red flag someone can have?

• 1:03:42Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 1:03:44Keke Palmer?

  Um, I think that it would probably be, um, hating their mom.

• 1:03:49Speaker 02

  Oh, wow. That's great. I love that one. OK. All right, OK. Sean, uh, yellow, right hand. Your question is, your date starts interviewing you the entire night. Is that attractive or annoying?

• 1:04:08Speaker 01

  You know what? I, uh, I would find that annoying because I like to be the one that is keeping the ball in the air and controlling the conversation. I'm just wired that way, so if I was getting interviewed, I would find that annoying.

• 1:04:22Speaker 02

  OK, good. OK, Kiki. This is fun. I hope y'all in good shape.

• 1:04:27Keke Palmer?

  Yes.

• 1:04:28Speaker 01

  I'm seeing you doing yoga, yeah.

• 1:04:29Keke Palmer?

  We both love the gym.

• 1:04:31Speaker 02

  It says, left hand, green.

• 1:04:34Keke Palmer?

  OK.

• 1:04:34Speaker 02

  Left hand, green. Now, your question is, your date is funnier than you. Is that attractive or threatening?

• 1:04:43Keke Palmer?

  Actually, it's attractive. I think it's funny when I get a chance to just not be anything.

• 1:04:51Speaker 02

  Okay, alright, I'm spinning. And Sean, left hand, blue.

• 1:04:58Keke Palmer?

  Okay.

• 1:04:58Speaker 02

  Left hand blue, and your question is...

• 1:05:01Keke Palmer?

  Come on, plank.

• 1:05:02Speaker 01

  I'm gonna hit a plank.

• 1:05:03Speaker 02

  Are you into splitting the bill, yes or no?

• 1:05:06Speaker 01

  No, I would, I would pick up the bill. I would pick up the bill. I pick up lots of bills.

• 1:05:13Speaker 02

  Now that, I, I heard the interview, that is midwestern.

• 1:05:18Speaker 02

  Okay, Kiki. There you go, left foot, green.

• 1:05:22Keke Palmer?

  Left foot, green?

• 1:05:23Speaker 02

  Left foot, green.

• 1:05:25Keke Palmer?

  Alright, left foot, green, shoot.

• 1:05:27Speaker 02

  What is your toxic dating trait?

• 1:05:31Keke Palmer?

  My toxic dating trait? I, I get scared a lot. I get spooked and I just say, "I, I gotta go to work."

• 1:05:40Keke Palmer?

  I get nervous, I'm, I'm not that easily, easy burner, vulnerable. You know, I get nervous.

• 1:05:46Speaker 02

  Okay, alright, let me spin now for Sean. Let's, I hope we get a foot in here. Okay, blue, right foot.

• 1:05:54Keke Palmer?

  Oh wow.

• 1:05:54Speaker 01

  Oh wow.

• 1:05:55Keke Palmer?

  This is a jump.

• 1:05:57Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:06:00Speaker 02

  Your date keeps checking their phone. What do you do?

• 1:06:05Speaker 01

  You know what, I, I, I deal with it in a, in a quiet way during the actual date. But then that's probably the, the last date. That's kind of a, kind of a red flag for me, you know? I kind of keep the phone away. You know, I understand checking it a little bit here and there. But if they're constantly on it, there's no, uh...

• 1:06:25Speaker 02

  That's a problem.

• 1:06:25Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, that's crazy.

• 1:06:26Speaker 01

  There's no future there.

• 1:06:26Keke Palmer?

  Cause you're not that engaged with me, like, what the hell?

• 1:06:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're just, you're caught in the matrix of your phone, you know? I'm not gonna be able to get you out of it.

• 1:06:34Speaker 02

  Alright.

• 1:06:37Speaker 02

  Kiki.

• 1:06:37Keke Palmer?

  I'm ready.

• 1:06:39Speaker 02

  Right foot, red. How the hell you gonna do that?

• 1:06:46Speaker 02

  Okay, you're at this date, girlfriend. And you don't feel any chemistry.

• 1:06:51Keke Palmer?

  Oh no.

• 1:06:51Speaker 02

  At all. What do you do, fake it? Or get up and leave?

• 1:06:56Keke Palmer?

  I turn it to Keke Palmer.

• 1:07:01Keke Palmer?

  Entertain my way through it.

• 1:07:05Speaker 02

  Okay, alrighty. Okay, uh...

• 1:07:09Keke Palmer?

  This is so crazy. I feel so nostalgic.

• 1:07:12Speaker 02

  Shh. Right foot green. Oh my god.

• 1:07:15Speaker 01

  Right foot green.

• 1:07:16Speaker 02

  Oh, you already got a right foot? Well, do the other foot. Yeah.

• 1:07:18Speaker 01

  Do the other, okay.

• 1:07:19Speaker 02

  Uh-oh. Okay.

• 1:07:21Speaker 01

  I'm hitting it.

• 1:07:22Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:07:22Keke Palmer?

  This is crazy good.

• 1:07:25Speaker 02

  If a date can't handle spicy food, is that a compatibility issue for you?

• 1:07:31Speaker 01

  No, you know what? That's fine by me. You know, if I'm off the clock, which I would be when I'm with her, uh, that's okay. You know, like, we can do salads and juices and cereal.

• 1:07:43Keke Palmer?

  Things that don't require Pepsi.

• 1:07:46Speaker 02

  Okay. Okay, right foot, uh, yellow? Kiki?

• 1:07:50Keke Palmer?

  Right foot yellow.

• 1:07:52Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:07:54Speaker 02

  Okay. Best first date activity?

• 1:07:59Keke Palmer?

  Best first date activity? Something where we, that, that's low pressure. You know, like, maybe we are taking a stroll, you know, eating some, like, like, maybe we picked up something and go si- sit in the park, or we go to a restaurant, we sit outside, something outside, like, outside, pick, you know, park, um, you know, rooftop, anything that is like...

• 1:08:18Speaker 01

  Speed up the answer.

• 1:08:24Speaker 01

  You know, maybe we go to the park, maybe we just...

• 1:08:27Keke Palmer?

  And that's the thing. I wasn't saying anything unique.

• 1:08:30Speaker 02

  Let me give him, let me give him the boo.

• 1:08:32Keke Palmer?

  Get him out of this boo.

• 1:08:33Speaker 02

  Okay. Le- le- left hand blue. Left hand blue.

• 1:08:38Speaker 01

  It's already there. It's already there.

• 1:08:39Speaker 02

  Okay, uh, let's, let's do the foot.

• 1:08:41Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:08:42Speaker 02

  Uh, right foot red.

• 1:08:45Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 1:08:45Speaker 02

  That's, is that worse?

• 1:08:50Speaker 01

  The hammy's given.

• 1:08:52Keke Palmer?

  I won?

• 1:08:52Speaker 01

  I think you won.

• 1:08:53Speaker 02

  Yes, you won.

• 1:08:55Keke Palmer?

  Any, any more last questions to ask us?

• 1:08:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, let me ask Sean this question, because I'm interested in what he would say. Um...

• 1:09:03Keke Palmer?

  Second work ethic.

• 1:09:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:09:09Keke Palmer?

  Pilates.

• 1:09:10Speaker 02

  What's something you've learned the hard way with dating?

• 1:09:14Speaker 01

  A lesson to learn the hard way?

• 1:09:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:09:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, you know what, you have to clearly identify priorities. You know what I mean? Because if you go in there not sure, not sure how they stack up, that'll create a problem along the way.

• 1:09:32Keke Palmer?

  Yeah, yeah, it's true. It's true. Because that's real compatibility. A lot of times we think, you know, when I think about, when I was younger, I would just be thinking about chemistry. But compatibility, that's what that is. You know, what are our priorities? How do our life and our structure actually work? And a lot of times, you know.

• 1:09:48Speaker 01

  You gotta learn that lesson the hard way.

• 1:09:50Speaker 02

  Last question for you, Keke. Do you fall fast or do you take your time?

• 1:09:57Keke Palmer?

  I think in, in, in, in real life,

• 1:10:01Keke Palmer?

  and I say real life because I feel like my life is now more representative than when I was younger. I was not sure what I was defining love as or connection as. Not that those connections weren't real, but I think that what I know of love now, it much, it's much longer. It takes much longer for me. Because I think it's based off of realer things. Not just fun vibes, not just we kicking it and it's, you know, man, we got chemistry. It's like the love comes from a place of integrity. Not saying the other times it didn't, but it comes from how do we actually align? How was it actually having sustainability? So that takes longer.

• 1:10:40Speaker 02

  Right, last thing I'm gonna say. Sean, you're from Crystal Lake?

• 1:10:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:10:43Speaker 02

  And we grew up in Robbins?

• 1:10:45Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:10:45Speaker 02

  This is such a great moment for me. I'm 58 years old. And when I was growing up, a kid from Crystal Lake wouldn't have been seen with a kid from Robbins.

• 1:10:54Keke Palmer?

  Damn, is Crystal Lake where the rich folks live?

• 1:10:56Speaker 02

  That's where they are.

• 1:11:01Keke Palmer?

  Hilarious. I gotta take my ass to Crystal Lake.

• 1:11:06Keke Palmer?

  Sound nice over there.

• 1:11:06Speaker 01

  Anytime you want, anytime you want.

• 1:11:08Speaker 02

  So, but this is great. This is how life should be. The guy from Crystal Lake should be sitting next to the girl from Robbins.

• 1:11:13Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 1:11:14Keke Palmer?

  That's so sweet, Mom. I love that. Shout out to Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Your parents.

• 1:11:20Speaker 01

  Oh, I thought you were talking about us.

• 1:11:22Keke Palmer?

  Now, that was good. Y'all hit me damn quick. Yes.

• 1:11:30Speaker 01

  I love you two.

• 1:11:31Keke Palmer?

  You're the best.

• 1:11:35Keke Palmer?

  What I love about this conversation is that it reminds you great interviews aren't just about the questions. They're about the intention behind them. And Sean has built an entire world of being present, being prepared, and being willing to go there, even when it gets hot. From watching his dad laugh at David Letterman to now creating moments that make millions of people feel something. That's not just success. That's purpose. Sean, I'm so glad that you brought your full self into this space. I appreciate you, and I hope to see you on Hot Ones real soon. Make sure to check out season 30 of Hot Ones coming this June. And to everybody listening, keep asking better questions. Keep working on your craft. And don't be afraid to turn up the heat on your dreams.

• 1:12:20Keke Palmer?

  Until next time on Baby, this is Keke Palmer.

• 1:12:24Speaker 03

  Baby, this is, this is Kiki. Baby, this is Keke Palmer, yeah.

• 1:12:34Keke Palmer?

  Okay, I know y'all are wondering, what happened after that game of Twister with Sean? And I already hear y'all. What's going on between them? Are they flirting? When is that date happening? Are we getting another Hot Ones smooch? That's for us to know. And maybe you too, if you keep watching on Spotify. And if you're subscribed to Spotify Premium, you won't get any commercial breaks on my show. So, no interruptions when you see some of those questions get answered this season.