Hot Ones is cooling down. Though new episodes of the YouTube hit typically drop each Thursday when the show is in season, host Sean Evans debuted a different kind of video on Thursday, March 26.
In the nearly six-minute clip, Evans, 33, explained that show has temporarily shut down production amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis. “There is no new episode of Hot Ones this week,” he began, calling the turn of events “a real bummer.”
While Evans noted that he was “super excited” to interview his next guest, he pointed out that given “social distancing and all that’s going on in the world,” it didn’t make sense to film the sit down. “It just does not gel very well with a show in-studio where me and a guest eat scorching hot chicken wings and spit at each other from across the table for an hour,” he quipped.
However, Hot Ones fans will be pleased to know that two episodes that were filmed prior to the pandemic will debut on April 2 and April 9. The April 2 episode will feature Zac Efron, while the April 9 installment will include a yet-to-be-announced star and function as a de facto season finale. An episode of Truth or Dab is expected to drop on April 16.
Evans guessed season 12 of Hot Ones will begin shooting over the summer, but warned “you can’t rush these things” before gesturing to a large cut on his chin.
“I’ve not been feeling great this week,” he revealed. “I’ve been pretty sick.” Though the Illinois native didn’t disclose whether or not he was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, he did explain that a physician advised him to rest and hydrate.
The latter activity, he noted made him urinate frequently and when he got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night on one occasion, he felt his “blood pressure drop” and blood rush out of his head.
After seeing “black and red spots,” Evans recalled “violently” crashing to the ground. As he put it, “For the first time in my life, I fainted.”
His ordeal wasn’t over yet, however. As the producer was making his way from the bathroom back to his bedroom, he was still “not feeling great” and fainted again. This time his body had “given up” and he wound up hitting his coffee table on the way down. “[My] chin [went] right into the corner of the table,” he said.
Evans recalled being “stuck on the ground” unsure of what to do next, thinking to himself, ‘Is this where it all ends?’
Thankfully, the YouTube personality said he’s now on the mend and “feeling much better,” but noted that the incident served as a reminder that he needs to take care of himself. “I’ll forever have this battle scar,” he concluded, grazing his cut. “You guys gotta see the real me … and that is a man who violently fainted twice in a span of five minutes.”
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