Travis Kelce and Amazon have finally reached the goal line. After weeks of speculation that the Super Bowl champion (better known to some as Taylor Swift‘s boyfriend) would be joining the streamer for a new edition of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, it’s finally official.
Prime Video announced on Tuesday that the Kansas City Chief’s tight end has been signed to host Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?, a spinoff of the hit broadcast trivia series from the mid-aughts (that was itself rebooted in 2019). The initial order is for 20 episodes and will rework the premise of the original series by featuring a classroom full of celebrity guests to help contestants answer the 6th-grade-level trivia questions in hopes of winning a $100,000 cash prize.
In a statement, Kelce said, “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. 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 be executive produced by Wes Kauble and Mar Burnett, with Kauble as showrunner.
Amazon MGM Studios’ head of AVOD originals unscripted and targeted programming, added, “For years, fans around the world have tested their smarts with this fun, nostalgic game show, and we look forward to bring this reimagined format to Prime Video… 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.”
Meanwhile, Barry Poznick, general manager of MGM Alternative and co-creator of the series, added, “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. And now, with the ultimate class clown, Travis Kelce, hosting, viewers should expect the unexpected!”
It’s worth noting that this isn’t Travis Kelce’s first TV competition series. He previously headlined the 2016 dating show Catching Kelce, which is currently available to watch on Peacock.
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