It was a fiery Thursday morning on Good Morning America as internet personality and Hot Ones host Sean Evans brought his famously spicy challenge straight to the ABC studio. And stepping up to the hot seat? None other than veteran anchor Robin Roberts herself.
Before the segment began, Robin was met with playful teasing from her co-anchors Michael Strahan and George Stephanopoulos. Michael quipped, “I love [Hot Ones]… I just wouldn’t do it live, just sayin’,” prompting Robin to fire back, “I know that you wouldn’t, so that’s why I’m doing it. You two said no.” George added with a laugh, “They knew not to even ask me!”
Taking the stage, Robin beamed with gratitude towards Sean: “Thank you for this, I adore you. I think what you’re doing is so brilliant, see I’m buttering you up right now.” Sean noted she was setting a new record by daring to take on the challenge so early in the morning, and Robin confessed: “Well, I didn’t say I wanted to do it live, I wanted to do it like everybody else. But okay!”
Instead of the usual ten wings, Robin faced a condensed lineup of just three – mild, medium, and the hottest of them all. Throughout, Michael, George, and Lara Spencer watched from the sidelines, heckling and cheering in equal measure. At one point, Michael teased that Robin was stretching out her answers to avoid the spice.
As the heat built, Robin spoke candidly about her early career driving a school bus and working as a country radio DJ – stories that have gone viral in behind-the-scenes clips. By the second wing, she admitted, “I almost said a bad word.”
The final wing nearly brought her to tears. Through laughs and scoops of ice cream, Robin shared heartfelt wisdom from her late mother: “What I love about this is venturing out of your comfort zone, and that’s something that my mama also said.” Gasping, she even joked, “I’m c0ming to see you, mama!” – sparking laughter all around.
To close the segment, Michael Strahan jumped in with perfect comedic timing: “Robin, we were gonna have you read this tease…but we can’t understand a word you’re saying right now. It seems like the hot sauce got your tongue!”
In the end, Robin proved that sometimes stepping outside your comfort zone can bring the biggest laughs – and the biggest burn.
