Travis Kelce is pivoting from football and Taylor Swift photo ops to television. The Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro tight end is set to host “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?” a new series coming to Amazon Prime Video. The upcoming show is a spin-off of Fox’s “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” which premiered in 2007.
“I grew up loving game shows, and I’m excited to be following in the footsteps of so many TV icons by hosting my very first one with ‘Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?’ The original show is a great success, so to be bringing a new format with everyone’s favorite celebrities to the screen, will definitely be entertaining,” Travis Kelce said in a statement to press. “I’m just happy to be on the hosting side of the equation here and excited to see how these famous faces keep up.”
The series will center around adult contestants who will rely on a classroom full of celebrities from “stage, screen and sports” to help them answer 11 questions, all of which are pulled from an elementary curriculum. The winner of this competition will take home a $100,000 prize.
Despite the series’ title, contestants will not be competing against celebrities but enlisting their help. Sometimes, contestants will even be allowed to “cheat” off of their famous peers. For the final question, the contestant will select one celebrity they can discuss the question with before locking in their final answer. That last question will always be on a 6th grade level, so step aside Jeff Foxworthy.
Prime Video has yet to announce the premiere date for the 20-episode series. “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?” will debut on the platform in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
“After producing more than 3,000 episodes of ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?’ globally, we wanted to come up with a new, loud twist on the format. Replacing the kids with celebrities gives us more laughs and surprises, like a roast, as contestants cheat off their famous classmates,” said Barry Poznick, general manager of MGM Alternative and co-creator of the series, in a press release. “And now, with the ultimate class clown, Travis Kelce, hosting, viewers should expect the unexpected!”
“Travis has proven to be an incredible talent on and off the field, and we appreciate the trust he has placed in us with his first foray into television. His natural, comedic dynamic with our panelists and guests, coupled with some exciting new twists, will keep our global customers coming back week after week,” Lauren Anderson, head of AVOD originals unscripted and targeted programming for Amazon MGM Studios, said in a press release.
Though the Kansas City Chiefs player is best known for his three Super Bowl wins, this move isn’t entirely unexpected. In February, TheWrap reported that Kelce was eyeing a move into Hollywood and was open to developing unscripted projects as well as movie and comedy opportunities. Additionally, the pro athlete and podcaster is already financing and executive producing two movies: “My Dead Friend Zoe,” which will premiere at SXSW, and the documentary “King Pleasure.”
Wes Kauble will serve as showrunner of “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?” and Mark Burnett will executive produce alongside Sean Kelly and Steve Hughes. The series will be produced by Amazon MGM Studios Distribution.
