Is ‘Hot Ones’ Sean Evans related to Chris Evans?

There’s no denying that Hot Ones is one of the most unique celebrity chat shows currently on offer. On par with the quirkiness of fellow talk show standouts like Chicken Shop Date and Between Two Ferns, the interview show adopts a unique model in which celebrity guests eat increasingly spicy chicken wings while fielding interview questions from host, Sean Evans.

The increasing popularity of the YouTube series — produced by Complex and First We Feast and launched in 2015 — has seen Evans welcome an onslaught of progressively starrier guests, with big names like Jennifer Lawrence, Idris Elba and Billie Eilish each trying their hand at the hot sauce throughout Hot Ones’ 21-season run.

Just this week, it was revealed that former boy band NSYNC would appear on the upcoming twenty-second season of Hot Ones, with all five members of the reunited group taking on the wings of death for the imminent season premiere. Athletes Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are also rumoured to appear on the new installment.

Naturally, the popularity of the show has brought attention to its host. Evans, who has fronted the series since its debut season, has gained renown as one of the more insightful interviewers in the game, with fans of the show now speculating that the host himself is of a famous family. So, who is Sean Evans, and is he related to Chris Evans?

Who is Sean Evans?

Sean Evans is the host and co-creator of Hot Ones. A graduate of broadcast journalism from the University of Illinois, Evans conceived of Hot Ones with its co-creator Chris Schonberger. Evans grew up as an admirer of interviewers like Howard Stern, Jimmy Kimmel, and Adam Carolla, and cites a taping of David Letterman as one of his earliest memories.

Prior to the launch of Hot Ones, Evans worked as a freelance contributor for the publication Complex, where he undertook early on-screen interviews with celebrities like 2 Chainz and Steph Curry. His success in the role led Complex to offer him a full-time position, after which he moved to New York City and hosted the first Hot Ones episode with debut guest Tony Yayo in 2015.

Since then, Evans has overseen some 300 episodes and consumed over 2,000 spicy chicken wings (RIP to his gut). Throughout Hot Ones’ run, Evans has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award as its host, with the show itself last year nominated for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show.

Is Hot Ones’ Sean Evans related to Chris Evans?

As Hot Ones’ profile grew — welcoming Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot on its most recent episode — so too did questions around Evans’ origins. While there’s a certain smiley demeanour and voice timbre that begs comparisons between the pair, Sean Evans is not related to Chris Evans of Captain America and Avengers fame.

Chris Evans was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and is the son of a dentist and an artistic director. While Chris Evans did rub shoulders with now-famous names in his early days (he was a classmate of Succession’s Jeremy Strong), Sean Evans was not one of those names.

Interestingly, given its increasingly starry list of guests, Hot Ones has yet to welcome Chris Evans to its spicy turntable. Sean Evans has, however, interviewed a range of superhero actors from Marvel and beyond, including an Avenger in the form of a 2019 interview with Ant-Man’s Paul Rudd.

Fellow MCU actors who’ve appeared on Hot Ones include Brie Larson, Sebastian Stan, Scarlett Johansson, Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Florence Pugh Tom Holland, all of whom have proved that even superheroes can’t handle the most notorious hot sauce, Da Bomb.

Does Chris Evans have any famous relatives?

While Sean Evans is not a part of Chris’ family tree, the Ghosted star does have some famous relatives. He is the nephew of Mike Capuano, who served as the mayor of the Boston city Somerville for nine years before becoming U.S. Representative until 2019.

On the Hollywood front, Chris Evans is the older brother of fellow actor Scott Evans. Scott Evans is known for his recurring role on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie, and has elsewhere appeared in the series Law & Order and HBO’s Looking. More recently, Scott Evans earned a breakout role in Barbie, portraying one of about 300 Kens in the much-lauded Greta Gerwig adaptation.