Travis Kelce is officially in his hosting era.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 34, brings the laughs in the first trailer for his new Prime Video game show, Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? “Hello, everybody. I’m Travis Kelce, and welcome to Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?, the game show where people can win ridiculous money just by answering questions about stuff we all learned back in elementary school,” he says in the first look, which dropped on Tuesday, October 1.
The series puts a spin on the classic game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, which ran on Fox from 2007 to 2019. Kelce’s new series follows a similar format to the original, as he describes in the trailer: “If a player gets stuck on a question, they can cheat off the celebrities.”
The lineup of celebrity helpers for the show’s debut season includes Nikki Glaser, Natasha Leggero, Nicole Byer, Ron Funches, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Chad Ochocinco, Garcelle Beauvais, Lala Kent, Sophia Stallone and Lilly Singh.
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“I am a massive fan of yours,” one contestant tells Glaser, 40, in the trailer, after which she asks Kelce, “You’re an offensive player, is that correct?” Kelce confirms her comment, but not before Glaser jokes, “And I’m an offensive comedian.”
The first look teases plenty of fun in store as Kelce and the celebrities have a good time cheering on contestants as they compete to win a cash prize of $100,000. “What was your major, Travis?” one celebrity panelist asks him in the preview, to which he hilariously responds, “Criminal justice. If I’m gonna go to school, I might as well learn how to not go to jail.”
News broke in March that Kelce was tapped to follow in Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? host Jeff Foxworthy’s footsteps for the show’s new iteration. “He’s funny and has the wits for it,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly of Kelce’s casting the following month. “He’s the perfect host. It’s a great gig for him.”
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Kelce shared his excitement about making his TV hosting debut in an April statement, sharing, “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.”
The experience of filming the show was one Travis called “a blast” during a May episode of his and brother Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast. “To be honest, I always wanted to do something with a game show. I always wanted to be a part of it, whether I was a contestant, somebody helping out or hosting one,” he said.
While the show will feature many famous faces, there were even more stars behind the scenes. “[Taylor Swift] did come on set,” Beauvais, 57, revealed in an August interview with Entertainment Tonight. “Not to say that I was there, but she came.” (Travis has been dating Swift, also 34, since the summer of 2023.)
Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? premieres on Prime Video Wednesday, October 16. The series premieres with the first three episodes followed by new episodes weekly.
