Over 80 students are registered to see Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi become the latest celebrity to try his hand at the “Hot Ones” interview with host Sean Evans this Friday.
Evans hosts the popular YouTube series “Hot Ones,” where he interviews guests while they eat progressively hotter wings. The series boasts almost 10 million subscribers, and the most popular episode of the series, with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, amassed over 84 million views.
The layout of the show is simple. Guests are given 10 chicken wings (or vegan wings for vegetarians) with progressively spicier hot sauces. The interview begins with the lowest spice level, measured in Scoville units, and ends at the hottest hot sauce, which can range from sauces with spice levels 800 times that of a jalapeno. As the interview goes on, guests are often sweating, crying or screaming from the spice.
Now on its 14th season, the show has seen a multitude of A-list celebrities attempt to finish all 10 wings, ranging from musicians like Billie Eilish and Post Malone to comedians like Lilly Singh and Seth Rogan and actors like Michael B. Jordan and Paul Rudd.
Evans has hosted the series since its inception in 2015, which premiered with rapper Tony Yayo. More than 200 episodes later, Evans has become a celebrity in his own right, appearing on multiple late-night shows and hosting his own spinoff on truTV titled Hot Ones: The Game Show.
Friday’s event will feature Evans interviewing Lombardi as they take on a virtual version of the popular interview format — the host will ask the top administrator burning questions as he eats spicy wings.
Though it remains unknown which specific hot sauces Lombardi will try, the audience will see if Lombardi earns a spot on the Hot Ones Hall of Shame, awarded to those who fail to eat all 10 of the wings.
Organized by the Cornell University Program Board, the event is among many that CUPB has virtually brought to Cornell’s campus this year. Other events have included a drawing class with SNL comedian Melissa Villaseñor and a talk with Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski.
Students can register for the event for free on the CUPB Website.