In an industry built on quick soundbites, Scott Evans is showing what connection can add to a celebrity interview. By bringing people into his own home for his YouTube interview series House Guest, Evans is creating something that wasn't possible when he was at Access Hollywood. The energy he sets in a room used to get lost on the cutting room floor once his conversations became segments. So when it was announced that Access Hollywood was going away after his 11 years there, Evans wasn't afraid. "My immediate reaction was like, I'm gonna have more time," he says. Now he gets to show people everything he's capable of.
It was after hosting Peacock's Couple to Throuple that Evans knew it was time for something new. He had been fascinated by the sexually fluid season of MTV's Are You the One?, and when he heard NBC was developing a throuple dating show, he knocked on every door he could to be part of it. The response to what he calls a first-of-its-kind dating show “that was inherently queer” reinforced for Evans that audiences were open to something outside the box. "Around the time we were doing press I realized I'm capable of more," he says. "I'm ready to do more."
House Guest was born after Evans and his collaborators tried to bring projects to market through his first-look deal at NBCUniversal. Eventually they could keep pitching or do it themselves. "I want a win for us. I want a win for myself," he says of his mindset at the time.
Scott Evans on the set of 'House Guest Game Night'Ryan “Scoobz” Handford
Logistically, inviting guests to his home was simple because it was a location he controlled. What Evans tapped into was the atmosphere he was known for during his Access Hollywood interviews. "In the age of the soundbite it got very formulaic, so the vibe, energy, and feeling of my interviews were being distilled into these quick clips," he says. "I was getting more story because of how I show up." The problem was the format. "Our show didn't really know how to edit to that," he says. "On House Guest, I had the opportunity to show more of how I got those answers and what I didn't anticipate was that people would rock with me so hard."
Evans credits his first guest, KevOnStage, with setting the tone for what the show would become. "He set a very high bar for how people come to the house and what the expectation is for the show," Evans explains. The show found its range when Diarra From Detroit creator Diarra Kilpatrick came on and talked about losing her mother. It was a different color from the fun, high-energy episodes before it, and it tied back to Evans' belief that his success as an interviewer comes from being prepared while letting the conversation go wherever the guest is willing to take it.
That flexibility, and the attention it drew from talent, fueled the show's growth. A chance meeting at a Schiaparelli event, where the two hugged for two minutes, led to an emotional episode with Regina King. According to Evans, House Guest was the first place she came after the death of her son, Ian, and she hadn't planned to talk about him the way she did. After Niecey Nash-Betts' appearance, she started suggesting who Evans should interview next. Something was drawing guests in. Even Kamala Harris and Tina Knowles have visited Evans' home. "I was more nervous with Miss Tina than I was with Madam Vice President," he admits.
- YouTube
Now Evans is expanding with House Guest Game Night. "I wanted to be able to invite more people," he says. The show could only film a few days a month, and Evans kept telling people he wanted to say yes to that it wasn't the right time. The new format brings more celebrities in on the fun and adds games to the mix. It raises the degree of difficulty, too. Instead of focusing on one person paying him a visit, Evans has to build the right energy for everyone in the room.
The idea came from a stretch of live shows, where Evans saw how audiences responded to the games he played with his guests. Those who follow Evans online will remember Danielle Brooks and Tamron Hall dancing on stage during the sold-out shows. In June, the channel saw a third of its growth for the year, much of it driven by material from the tour.
His interview style and the fun of gameplay come together in the first episode, with Love Island USA winners Serena Page and Kordell Beckham alongside comedy creator Ashby Florence. The episode doubles as a proof of concept, a new goal for Evans' company. "We're building Game Night in a way that we can pitch it as a broadcast television show or a show for a streamer," he shares.
Game Night isn't the only thing Evans is building. The team at Summer Break Studios, Evans' production company, also plans to bring audiences a dating format, more live shows in 2027, and a vacation getaway expansion of House Guest.
At the center of this growing slate is a Black gay man whom audiences watched conduct interviews for Access Hollywood, now building for himself. The impact isn't lost on Evans.
Scott EvansRyan “Scoobz” Handford
"What I hear most often is keep going because I know people are connected to if they can see me do it then it connects to the belief that they can do it as well," he explains. For Black queer people in particular, he says, representation matters more than the phrase gives it credit for. "When people see me win, they know it's actually us winning," he says. "When they see me excel or succeed, they see themselves succeeding." Evans doesn't see himself as “anything special,” but what he's built has become an example for people who see themselves in him. He decided early on that entertaining was what he was going to do, and he hopes others can see in his journey the possibility of pursuing their own dreams.
At a time when Hollywood is pulling back on its commitments to underrepresented communities, the launch of House Guest Game Night sends a signal. "House Guest serves as a reminder that we can figure it out and the time to figure it out is now. No one is coming to give it to you. You gotta create it yourself," he says.
That confidence is crucial to where Evans is heading, and he's found reassurance along the way. At the Emmys, a woman stopped him to tell him she had to put her hands on him and let him know that what he's doing is "healing." At the Atlanta live show, he asked Brooks what she would tell the little girl who dreamed of working in Hollywood. Her answer was simple: believe it. "I felt like she was talking to my soul," Evans says. He ran off the stage and sobbed. It's the lesson he says this whole process has taught him.
"That dream you have, that idea, the thing you want to obtain, believe it. Then with belief comes activity, comes the changing of habits and behaviors. Life changes on the other end of that," he says.
