Eight years after his first appearance on “Hot Ones,” Kevin Hart reprised his seat at the table to eat spicy wings a second time around. The actor and comedian said he’s nervous from the get-go. “This is a good time for me to check the exits just so I know…If I do need to go, understand that I’m not playing,” Hart warned host Sean Evans. And yet, he willingly subjected himself to 25 minutes of pain and torture. After eating his seventh chicken wing, which is coated in Butterfly Bakery Hot House Hot Sauce, Hart is struggling. “That’s the toughest one so far…That one right there, f**k man!” he exclaimed while coughing, gagging and sniffling.
Since its inception in 2015, First We Feast’s “Hot Ones” — “the show with hot questions and even hotter wings” — has featured over 300 celebrities, including actors, comedians, musicians and athletes. The premise of the YouTube talk show is simple: guests must eat a platter of 10 increasingly spicy chicken wings alongside Evans while answering his questions. But making it until the very end is not an easy feat. DJ Khaled infamously tapped out after eating just three wings. Taraji P. Henson brought in her bodyguard Dave to finish her remaining wings. And Bobby Lee quite literally pooped his pants on camera.
Why do celebrities put themselves through such humiliation? And why do the show’s guests — like Hart — keep coming back for more?
Sure, there’s the promise of good, buzzy press. Celebrities are offered an opportunity to promote their upcoming projects in a sensationalistic yet humanistic and, oftentimes, meme-worthy manner. But there’s also a more scientific reasoning. Spicy foods blur the lines between pleasure and pain, which makes them catalysts for great onscreen drama. Such foods contain a chemical compound called capsaicin that binds to pain receptors in our body once consumed.
“That’s what produces that heat or burning sensation,” explained Dr. Alexa Mieses Malchuk, a family physician based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “Your body perceives that as overheating and that, in turn, is what causes us to sweat.”
She continued, “Spicy foods — and that sort of pain perception — also make the body produce endorphins, which is the same chemical that runners get when they're running a marathon. They get that runner's high. I wouldn't say it's full-blown euphoria, but that is why, despite being painful, people still seek out spicy food.”
Dr. Malchuk added that endorphins can promote a sense of well-being, even happiness and comfort.
Certain individuals are more drawn to the thrill of eating spicy foods than others. Take for example the self-described chiliheads, a tight-knit community of spicy pepper enthusiasts. Their choice of peppers isn’t your run-of-the-mill jalapeños or habaneros. Instead, they include harrowing names like the Ghost pepper, the Carolina Reaper and other hybrid peppers that boast high Scoville units.
Hulu’s 2024 docuseries “Superhot: The Spicy World of Pepper People" spotlighted the chili subculture and several pepper personalities, like Johnny Scoville. Scoville, a popular chili pepper reviewer who has been described as the Elvis Presley of chiliheads, described his pursuit of spice as an addiction.
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“It’s just a beautiful thing,” Scoville said in the documentary. “I love pepper pain. I love pain, and this is my favorite kind of pain.”
“From the time I got to college, I sort of felt like an addict who hadn’t found his drug yet,” he said. “And I basically looked for it, and I tried them all. Over a decade ago, I quit all of them. The only buzz I get is from peppers. There’s always gonna be something hotter, and I’m gonna find it.”
Outside of “Hot Ones” and chiliheads, spicy foods have been enjoying a global moment. Food manufacturer Kalsec noted in its 2024 Beyond the Burn report that an increasing number of consumers were seeking out spicier flavors and hot foods. A survey conducted online with approximately 6,000 consumers found that 65 percent of consumers said they were eating spicier foods today than they were a year ago.
“We are seeing a continued global increase in demand for heat as well as an increasingly diverse flavor palate, with consumers seeking new flavor profiles from different regions and cultures,” said Mark Staples, vice president of global marketing at Kalsec. “The growing popularity of spicy flavors presents a significant opportunity for food ingredient manufacturers to develop innovative and flavorful products that cater to the discerning tastes of their consumers.”
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According to market research firm Circana, sales for food and beverages with “spicy” in the description have increased nine percent year-over-year. Additionally, 11 percent of 25 to 34-year-olds enjoy “bold and unexpected flavors,” which is a seven percent increase from 2019.
Brands have also hopped on the spicy and “swicy” — a portmanteau of “sweet” and “spicy” — trends. Last February, Coca-Cola released a spicy version of its OG soda, aptly called Coca-Cola Spiced. And in April, Starbucks released a new, limited-time spicy line of lemonade drinks in three flavors: Spicy Dragonfruit, Spicy Pineapple and Spicy Strawberry.
Indeed, the increased preference for spicy foods is a significant cultural phenomenon. People worldwide can’t stop craving spicy, whether that’s indulging in fiery foods or watching celebrities attempt to conquer the infamous Wings of Death.
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