Keke Palmer romance rumors swirl with ‘Hot Ones’ host Sean Evans after his crush confession

Keke Palmer and “Hot Ones” host Sean Evans sparked romance rumors after the duo flirted during his podcast appearance.

The “Nope” actress kicked off her “Baby, this is Keke Palmer” podcast Tuesday by introducing Evans as her “potential future suitor.”

Later in the interview, Evans, 40, revealed that his celebrity crush growing up was TLC rapper Left Eye.

“I played Chili in the [‘CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story’] movie. Close enough,” Palmer said, to which Evans replied, “Absolutely close enough.”

Toward the end of the podcast episode, Keke’s mom, Sharon Palmer, told Evans how watching him with her daughter was a “great moment” because she wasn’t allowed to be with someone who was from the YouTuber’s “rich” area of Illinois.

“This is great. This is how life should be. The guy from Crystal Lake should be sitting next to the girl from Robbins [Illinois],” Sharon said.

Keke, 32, then said, “That’s so sweet, Mom. I love that. Shoutout to Mr. and Mrs. Evans … your parents.”

Sean then quipped to Keke, “Oh, I thought you were talking about us.”

The duo concluded the show by exchanging “I love yous” and embracing for a hug.

Fans couldn’t seem to get enough of the flirty action between Sean and Keke, with many shipping them in the comments section of the YouTube video.

“The most professional flirting I’ve ever seen,” one person wrote, with another adding, “This whole episode was Keke telling Sean how to date her lol.”

“i’m taking this as their 4th date lmaoo,” said a third person.

“KEKE get to know THIS man,” wrote a fourth netizen.

A fifth fan said Keke and her mom were “vetting” Evans to see if he was “boyfriend material” and claimed he was “passing with flying colours LOL.”

The “Akeelah and the Bee” actress previously starred as a guest on Sean’s hit YouTube show, “Hot Ones,” multiple times.

In November 2023, Sean revealed that he had a crush on Keke.

“Very charming woman,” he gushed to Amelia Dimoldenberg, the creator and host of the web series “Chicken Shop Date,” at the time.

Two years later, Sean and the “Hustlers” star shocked viewers when they kissed on the latter’s wing show.

“I saw an interview where you said, like, I was your favorite guest, and all this really sweet stuff,” Keke told him.

“I know we’ve just had some wings, but I thought that maybe we could just have a quick smooch to see if there’s a spark,” she added.

After the pair locked lips, Keke said, “The sparks are sparking!” while Sean added, “When I’m dying, and my life flashes before my eyes, I’ll have that snapshot.”

Sean was most recently linked to adult film star Melissa Stratton. The pair broke up on Valentine’s Day in 2024, with Sean telling Stratton that the split was caused by the media attention over their romance.

Meanwhile, Keke split from ex Darius Jackson in 2023 after he publicly criticized the sheer dress the actress wore to an Usher concert. The exes share son Leodis, who was born in February 2023.