Hot Ones: 10 Celebrities Who Best Handled The Heat

Hot Ones has claimed many victims, including the likes of Tom Holland, Gordon Ramsay, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. However, not often discussed are the celebrity guests that handled the challenge with ease and grace. While a perfect performance is hard to get, most of these celebrities still had fewer issues than most.

Hot Ones has been going strong for quite a while, but recently, there have been some excellent episodes. Some of the more recent episodes also featured guests that had little to no problems with the spiciness. Few can say they did not cry when doing the Hot Ones challenge, but some of these celebrities can proudly claim it – with the video evidence to back it up.

CL

Despite having some clear reactions to the spicy wings, rapper CL still managed to keep her cool throughout the interview. Tears may have developed because of the spiciness, but she answered every question with ease. She did not require any laps and finished the last dab strongly.

However, she drank a lot of milk throughout the interview. Even though she wasn’t on the brink of freaking out like Jon Bernthal or Gordon Ramsay, she was still slightly weak to the spice factor. Still, it wasn’t a bad performance.

Elijah Wood

The Lord of the Rings actor did surprisingly well when taking on the spicy wings. He did form some tears from the heat, but the actor was constantly cracking jokes throughout. He even mentions the fact that it tastes like the lava of Mount Doom, again a reference to one of Wood’s best-rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes.

Where Wood’s interview really hit its high was in the last dab, as he took on the challenge like a champ. He was energetic the entire video and did not allow the heat to overcome him. While he did not become a meme like fellow actor Paul Rudd, Wood is an underrated MVP on Hot Ones.

Jeremy Renner

Jeremy Renner had very few issues doing the Hot Ones challenge. He handled the interview almost perfectly with very few moments of weakness, handling it with the grit and composure also shown in Renner’s best ever movie roles. However, he did have to chug some water to extinguish the flames.

Still, Renner did finish out strong on the last dab. Especially since he put way too much on the wing. While others may be absolutely terrified of the last dab, Renner went in headstrong like the true Avenger that he is.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson dunked on the challenge. This includes the iconic line, “I took two bites b****”. While Tyson did struggle and coughed a couple of times, he handled himself extremely well. The heat from the wings did not harm his ability to answer the interview questions and demonstrate his vast scientific knowledge. Not even the liquid rage could stop his ability to be a science geek.

While some celebrities on the show have issues concentrating after eating the very spicy food, Tyson had no issues going into complicated subjects while under the heat. He definitely deserves to be on an all-star team of Hot Ones challengers if the makers were ever to bring back former participants.

Paul Rudd

This was arguably one of the greatest ever Hot Ones episodes. The episode even sparked a popular meme, but what most do not talk about is how well Paul Rudd actually handled the heat. With only a few pauses to recognize how spicy the wings were, Rudd took on the challenge like a legend. He still was able to focus enough to spark an iconic line on the last dab.

On top of Rudd’s performance on handling the spicy wings, this episode ranks amongst the favorite for many. When Tom Holland appeared, he stated it was his favorite episode of Hot Ones. Rudd was already a legendary actor, but his Hot Ones appearance showed a different side to him – proving that he can handle a challenge.

Coach Brad Underwood

This was a special episode, particularly for the host Sean Evans as he went back to his alma mater, the University of Illinois, to interview the lead men’s basketball coach. However, what followed was the coach completely dominating the hot wings with only a few tears. The coach went through the interview with no problem, including no laps around the set.

Coach Underwood handled himself so well that he caught the eyes of fans of the show too. Fans praised Underwood for his performance when taking on the wings as he handled the last dab with grace. It’s hard for guests to top the likes of Charlize Theron, but Underwood comes close.

Charlize Theron

Theron has become an iconic action star with films like Atomic Blonde and The Old Guard, but she aced her toughest challenge yet – the Hot Ones challenge. Much like Theron’s movies are highly ranked on IMDB, she is also ranked high amongst the Hot Ones guests in terms of spicy stamina. She barely had a reaction as the spiciness increased – the challenge almost had no effect on her at all.

She took no laps around the set, barely formed any tears, and the last dab had no ill effects either. On top of that, she was even making the crew laugh with her humor. Few are able to do so while having their mouth on fire.

Padma Lakshmi

The television host did so well that the title of the episode, “Padma Lakshmi Gracefully Destroys Spicy Wings,” should speak for itself. Viewers in the comments were shocked at her performance, especially in how she handled Da Bomb.

Despite the rising spicy levels, Lakshmi was always all smiles. She never once had to take a lap or struggled to keep her mouth from exploding. Even though she did drink some milk, it seemed more casual than a desperate attempt to douse the flames.

Lorde

Lorde handled the Hot Ones challenge so well that she thought she was boring. She literally laughed in the face of some of the spiciest wings on the planet and handled the interview with grace. Arguably, Lorde has been the only guest to fully take on the Hot Ones challenge with no issues at all.

Lorde handled herself so well that Evans was looking for even the slightest indication that the heat was taking effect. Alas, nothing was able to phase the singer. She goes down as a legend in the Hot Ones hall of fame to say the least.

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