Sabrina Carpenter’s meteoric rise from Disney Channel actress to pop princess reached new heights this week when the Bucks County native sat down to eat hot wings and answer burning questions on a popular interview show.
The “Espresso” singer was the latest guest on “Hot Ones” — the First We Feast streaming talk show in which celebrities chow down on progressively spicier wings while answering questions posed by host Sean Evans. In the new episode, which premiered Thursday, Carpenter persevered through the lineup of 10 wings while discussing her songwriting techniques, interacting with fans at her shows and what it was like headlining Bethlehem Musikfest back in 2016.
Before launching into his hard-hitting questions, Evans asked Carpenter whether she appreciates a spicy meal, to which she responded, “appreciates is the wrong word.”
“They always just kind of happen to me and then I deal with it,” she said, adding that she really likes what spicy foods do to her sinuses.
Carpenter started off strong when it came to handling the heat, but by the time the fifth wing rolled around she began to falter. She soon reached for tissues, claiming she’s a “snotty girl,” and later jokingly asked Evans whether he’s ever been sued for encouraging guests to eat such spicy wings.
In between gasping for air and trying to cool off by gulping down a milkshake — Was it made with her Van Leeuwen espresso ice cream? — Carpenter also bonded with Evans over being Tauruses and expressed her undying fandom for the Beatles. Plus, said she steams her throat to protect her voice while touring and reminisced on her wildest fan interactions during concerts, which include a fan telling her their father left them.
Here are some other takeaways from Carpenter’s “Hot Ones” appearance:
‘Nonsense’ almost didn’t make it onto the album
“Nonsense” was one of the breakout hits from Carpenter’s 2022 album “Emails I Can’t Send,” and it also has become a fan-favorite to perform live — because she switches it up during each performance with a cheeky outro, usually related to the city where she’s playing. But Carpenter said the song almost didn’t make it onto the album. Evans asked her what she learned from trusting herself, instead of others’ opinions, in moving forward with releasing the song.
“The lesson I learned with ‘Nonsense’ was that this song was so kindred with my personality, and I started to get in my head on what fits a record versus what fits Sabrina, or myself as an artist, and that taught me so many lessons moving forward making the next record,” Carpenter said. “I think now whatever feels the most honest and connects to me the most, I feel like will connect with other people.”
Fans will reap the rewards of that lesson when Carpenter’s sixth studio album, “Short n’ Sweet,” drops on Aug. 23. (As she struggled through the hot wings, she told Evans she did not name the album “Short n’ Spicy” because she prefers sweet things). The singer revealed the track list, which includes singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” on social media earlier this week.
That’s that ‘me espresso’
Carpenter is known for her buzzy, clever lyrics, and Evans asked her how much of her songwriting involves playing around with particular words until they land just right.
“Sometimes I really do go into it with such a specific word or phrase that I love and I do kind of obsess over it until I can find the right place for it, whether it’s in that song or a completely different song,” Carpenter said.
Later, Evans brought up the long tradition of misheard lyrics in pop hits — think the infamously misheard “Starbucks lovers” lyric in Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.” Carpenter said that she focuses on making sure listeners can understand her lyrics, since so much of her songwriting is about the lyrical “punchline.” But she did address her highly meme-able lyric, “That’s that me, espresso” with Evans.
“I’ve heard a lot of people that were like, ‘She should have said that’s that blonde espresso, duh,’ and I’m like, well yes,” Carpenter said. “That is another song I think as well that deserves its spot in the world, but this one for me was like, ‘me espresso’ just felt like the right thing to say and it rhymes with the line before it. … I just think it’s so funny, like maybe everyone’s right.”
Headlining Bethlehem Musikfest in 2016
Evans is known to pleasantly surprise his subjects by asking questions that pull from the deep dark recesses of their early careers, and Carpenter was similarly charmed when Evans asked where headlining Bethlehem Musikfest falls on her list of career accomplishments.
“That’s so sweet of you to ask,” Carpenter said. “That was my first like, maybe I’m going to be successful (moment). I think anywhere where you grow up and you have the biggest music festival in your town; like that was such a part of my childhood, going every year, that when I got to headline I was like ‘this is one of my biggest dreams’ and that has only turned into so many of the cool things that I’ve always wanted to do, even this show — it’s such a gift to get to watch things and then find yourself getting to do them.”
Carpenter said Musikfest, which she headlined in 2016, as well as all her recent accomplishments make all the hard work and the tour bus nights “where the hot water goes out” worth it, as those times built character and prepared her for success. She has since moved on to even bigger festivals, making her Coachella debut in April and gearing up to headline Outside Lands in San Francisco in August. She’s also embarking on the “Short n’ Sweet” tour in support of her upcoming album, which will make a stop at the Wells Fargo Center in October.
The “Hot Ones” episode ended with Carpenter, who enjoys drawing as a hobby, working through the pain of spicy wings to doodle Evans a picture encompassing her experience on the show. It featured a cartoon version of Evans saying, “I’m great,” and Carpenter saying, “I’m having a hard time.”
Carpenter was the latest local celebrity to appear on “Hot Ones,” as Season 24 has also featured interviews with actor Will Smith and comedian Shane Gillis. Check out Carpenter’s full “Hot Ones” episode below: