Travis Kelce admitted he’s “terrified” about his debut as a TV host on the new quiz show Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s new show debuted on Amazon‘s Prime Video on October 16. It sees the three-time Super Bowl winner take the helm of a quiz based on the hit series Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
It brings a new twist to the original format, where an adult contestant relies on a classroom of celebrities to help them answer 11 questions on a range of subjects, pulled from the elementary curriculum, all in the hopes of winning a $100,000 prize.
While Kelce has graced TV screens before outside of football, most notably hosting Saturday Night Live in 2023 and currently appearing in Ryan Murphy’s latest FX series, Grotesquerie, it’s his first time as a show’s marquee star.
Travis Kelce on December 10, 2023, in Kansas City, Missouri. The NFL star has spoken about hosting the new show ‘Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?’
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
On the latest episode of his podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, the athlete’s brother brought up the premiere date of the show, prompting him to exclaim: “Oh, s***, it’s today?”
“I’m terrified—terrified what people are going to say,” Travis Kelce continued. “I had so much f****** fun doing Are You Smarter? So much fun, man.”
Jason Kelce then brought up the range of celebrities scheduled to appear on the show, including Garcelle Beauvais, Nicole Byer, Nikki Glaser, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Chad Ochocinco, and Natasha Leggero. Ron Funches, Lala Kent, Sophia Stallone, and Lilly Singh are also among those in the lineup.
As Jason Kelce asked questions about the rules of the game, Travis Kelce said: “There are a few twists to this game, and I do a great job of describing it in the episodes. So you’ve just got to turn that thing on. You’ll get caught up to all the rules and regulations that we’ve got going on with the celebrities and how the celebrities can help you out.”
Jason Kelce pointed out that in one of the preview episodes he watched, his saw his brother learning for the first time what a BBL (Brazilian butt lift) was.
After the two shared a lighthearted exchange about BBLs, Travis Kelce said: “Outside of learning what a BBL was, it was a fun show. And I never in a million years thought I was ever going to be an actual host of a game show.
“I always thought it was going to be fun to, like, maybe go on one of the game shows. And then somebody asked me, ‘Do you want to host it?’ I’m like, I mean, I guess I used to, like, mimic all the game show hosts as a kid, like, just f****** around. And I love the game shows, for sure.”
The brothers reminisced about watching the Game Show Network when they were growing up. “I still do game shows,” Jason Kelce added.
Later returning the focus to his time on the set, Travis Kelce told his brother: “I was kind of like quizzing myself, going through the questions in the back, just making sure. I would read them once… because I’m a terrible reader. So I would make sure I would get all the pronunciations corrected in the background.”
The first three episodes of Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity? premiere on October 16, 2024, on Prime Video.
