Heartwarming / Hot Ones

• Bert Kreischer begins his episode gushing about how excited he is to be there and how much he enjoys the show.
• N.O.R.E. takes Fandom VIP to the next level - not only does he finish the show's catchphrase at the beginning, he also takes every possible opportunity to talk about how good a host Sean is and how big a fan he is of the show. When Sean shows some knowledge of N.O.R.E.'s history and that of Drink Champs, he's pleased and appreciative that Sean knows so much. This reaches a frankly absurd level when after Sean asks what N.O.R.E.'s "White Whale" for Drink Champs would be in terms of a guest, N.O.R.E. says "Sean Evans" which amuses and bewilders Sean to no end.
• When Ethan and Hila of H 3 H 3 Productions are on, both say they came on because they're huge fans of the show, and Ethan uses his plug time to promote Hot Ones rather than himself.
• Brett Baker's reaction to Russell Brand's song about him.
  • His using the plug time in the Milestone Celebration episode to advocate supporting the fine arts.
• The opening to Nick Kroll's episode includes Nick jokingly giving Sean and the rest of the crew shit for including their own hot sauce in the lineup (which Sean admits that it basically means they get "defacto celebrity endorsements" for said sauce) to the point that he does a mock advert saying the Hot Ones sauce can "suck a dick". But when it comes time for him to actually try the sauce he drops the act and gives his honest opinion on it, even going so far as to give them a review quote worthy of an actual advertisement.
  Nick: "Hot Ones" Sauce: A lot of love and care went into it.
• Terry Crews ' interview is full of heartwarming moments as he gets very emotional talking about wanting to be a better father to his son than his own (abusive) father was to him, bonding with his son by building a gaming PC while previously being computer illiterate, and so on. After the interview is over he goes so far as to ask Sean for his phone number, declaring them to be friends forever now.
• During the Hot Ones interview with Joji, Sean gushes and gushes about how much he loves the fact Joji's doing what he loves, and even goes as far as to praise him for how he handled eating the wings (even telling Joji to not be sorry for leaving the bones out because Joji didn't realize there was a trash can.
  • Midway during the interview, Sean asks Joji about his thoughts on the Creator Worship part of his fanbase. Joji comments about how it's important for a fanbase to be close to the artist, and then turning to the camera and saying "And I respect that, thank you". Even more so that Joji shows that he's okay with being approached by fans in public, even jokingly stating they should "bother" him when he's with a girl to look cool.
    • Add to that, remember that Joji heavily enforced the Reclusive Artist stand-offish personality to avoid being bothered, and now he's asking fans to bother him. Impressive.
• During the interview with culinary powerhouse Alton Brown he takes a particular interest in trying the Hot Ones fiery chipotle. His initial reaction starts with a somewhat lukewarm statement of "I get the lime...I don't get the ghost...the ghost chili..." only to pause and second guess with "...or maybe I do. You gotta work it awhile..." but what comes next is the real kicker. He grabs the bottle off the table, uncaps it, and proceeds to take a sizable swig straight out of the bottle to get a better taste, after which he has nothing but praise for it with it becoming his favorite of the ten on the table. He actually has to stop himself as he's breaking it down to let the interview continue.
• The season 4 finale with the one and only Chili Klaus. The mutual admiration he and Sean have is amazing - Sean credits Klaus as a major friend and influence of the show while Klaus shows great pride at Sean's success. Even with them dying over an unfathomably hot wing selection, they're bonding like best buddies.
• Bill Burr spends his episode miserable and grumpy (in true Bill Burr fashion) from the intense heat. Still, he gets to the end out of sheer stubbornness, and, deciding he has nothing to promote, instead tells an adorable story about the time he made his wife laugh so hard she cried while in a Norwegian restaurant. For all his bluster, Bill's also one hell of a Wife Guy.
  • There's a small but wholesome moment when Bill gets to the Last Dab, where Bill's eating the wing and just trash-talking Sean for fun (also in true Bill Burr fashion) only to stop and admit:
    Bill: This last one was delicious.
    Sean: [looking genuinely touched] Thanks, Bill, we actually make this one.
• After Scarlett Johansson nearly gets knocked out by Da Bomb, what comes next has Sean encourage her to get through the final two wings in a sweet moment. A lap around the table, a plate of rice and bread and some cold beers later, ScarJo has a Heroic Second Wind to finish the challenge.
  Scarlett: Hold my hand.
  Sean: (takes hand) I got you. We're in this together. Ok?
  Scarlett: Ok.
  Scarlett: Hold my hand.
  Sean: I got you.
  Scarlett: It's so hot! Are you experiencing this too?
  Sean: I am. I just know what to expect, I've been here before.
• Once Gordon Ramsay busts out the donuts and starts cutting one up, he offers a piece to Sean before he eats any himself. Later on, when he requests a box of tissues, he holds it up for Sean to take one first.
• When Margot Robbie appeared, and had a hard time handling the spice, her co-stars from Birds of Prey (2020) came on at the end to encourage her. Jurnee Smollett effortlessly one-upped all the others by declaring the wings delicious and eating several of the hottest ones with evident pleasure.
• Before going completely off the rails, Conan O'Brien takes the time to praise Sean for being a great interviewer, calling him one of the best he's ever seen in action. And this coming from a man with three decades of talk-show experience.