Conan O’Brien knows what it takes to survive Hot Ones.
In April, the late-night legend set the internet ablaze when he sat down on the popular YouTube talk show for an extra spicy episode. O’Brien brought along a “personal physician” to periodically monitor his temperature as he chugged hot sauce straight from the bottle and even rubbed it into his skin.
Naturally, O’Brien’s Hot Ones appearance quickly went viral; the episode currently sits at a whopping 10 million views and counting. It also prompted an outpouring of love for him on social media, with Twitter/X users describing him as “f**king incredible” and deeming him “the GOAT of talk show hosts.”
On the latest episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, O’Brien chatted with actress and comedian Nikki Glaser about his memorable Hot Ones stint. When asked what he did in order to prepare for the show, he had the perfect answer: be a “total a**hole.”
“My first thought was, ‘I don’t wanna just taste the wings and talk about the wings. I have to go in and be a total a**hole,’” he told Glaser, adding that he knew from the get-go that he had to bring his “physician”—Dr. Arroyo, who’s actually Conan writer José Arroyo—along for the ride.
“You’re not someone who drinks a lot and you don’t lose control,” Glaser said. “You’re always in control, even if you’re seemingly out of control. And I felt like it was the first time I had ever seen you, maybe, on the brink of losing control, because you were in so much pain. But you were fighting it and you still had it. And it was one of the most brilliant things I’ve ever seen.”
O’Brien also shared his secret to mustering through physical pain—like, say, the horrors of drinking straight hot sauce. “It sounds crazy, but if I think something’s funny and it’s going well, the performance energy or whatever, that just takes over,” he explained before following up with a quick anecdote.
“A car filled with big jock-y guys backed over my foot about 10 years ago, and I think broke it,” he said. “I was having a good time, and rather than ruin the evening, I just decided, ‘F**k it, my foot isn’t broken.’ So I proceeded to go and have a lot of fun with these people, and then I woke up in the morning and my wife saw my foot, and it didn’t look like a foot anymore. And she said, ‘We gotta go to the hospital.’”
Glaser has yet to go on Hot Ones, but if she ever does, she knows she can count on O’Brien’s sage advice—and maybe keep Dr. Arroyo on speed dial, just to be safe.
