Hot Ones Deals a New Hand With Game Night and Host Joe Santagato

Hot Ones is pulling up another chair. First We Feast is launching Hot Ones: Game Night, a new series under the Hot Ones banner hosted by Joe Santagato of The Basement Yard.

The news was reported exclusively by Variety on 21 September. It extends a franchise that started as an interview show into game-night territory, with Santagato leading the play.

The series premieres on 30 September at 7 a.m. ET on the First We Feast YouTube channel, according to Variety. That is a morning drop in New York. It lands at midday in London and in the evening in Jakarta. Viewers will not need a subscription. Open YouTube and it is there.

Santagato is doing double duty. He hosts the show and serves as an executive producer, meaning he helps shape it behind the camera as well as in front of it. The credit puts him in the room where booking, games and tone are decided.

Doctor Mike takes the first turn as guest. He will open the series on premiere day.

The booking list after that includes Neil deGrasse Tyson and Frank Alvarez. Variety named both as upcoming guests. No airdates for those episodes were disclosed in the report. Short and simple. Three names, three very different energies.

The launch comes from an organisation with serious reach. First We Feast originally launched in 2012 at Complex Media. It now counts more than 27 million followers across platforms, according to Variety.

Santagato arrives with history in this world. He and Alvarez are childhood friends, a connection First We Feast has played up before in clips. The pair previously faced off in a Hot Ones: Wing Pong episode billed as a The Basement Yard showdown, which First We Feast promoted across Facebook and TikTok in March.

For fans, this means a familiar face in a new slot. Same Hot Ones name on the thumbnail. New host, new games and a 7 a.m. reason to check the channel on 30 September.