Kansas City Chiefs tight end and breakout celebrity Travis Kelce has been tapped for a new gig two months after winning his third Super Bowl championship.
According to a press release posted by Amazon MGM Studios, Kelce will be the new host of the game show called “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?”
The original iteration of the show, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader,” garnered significant acclaim upon its 2007 debut to a record-breaking 27 million viewers and ran for a two-year span.
Produced by Mark Burnett and broadcasted on the Fox Broadcasting Network, the show was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. A total of 800 million viewers tuned in for various international iterations of the show during its run.
The premise was simple. Adult contestants were tasked with answering questions that might be found in elementary school quizzes and students ranging from age 9 to 11 would challenge the guests to see who had the correct answer.
After being canceled in 2009, the series was later revived for a short moment on Fox in 2015 and then on Nickelodeon in 2019.
Revamped for a new generation, this new show will have celebrity contestants (ala Steve Harvey’s “Celebrity Family Feud”) from all walks of entertainment and enlist the three-time Super Bowl champion as the host. But while the streaming network is excited, many people on social media are done with Kelce and feel like the powers that be are cramming him down the public’s throat.
The Shade Room posted the announcement about Kelce’s new gig, and many of its 29.1 million followers were unenthused.
“Why are they forcing this man on us?” someone wrote. Another comment read, “We tied of this man. “We don’t want him,” a third person commented.
Multiple gifs were posted in the comment section that expressed how much their followers “don’t care” about Taylor Swift’s boyfriend doing anything.
But some submitted that this gig is another way for Hollyweird to mush his girlfriend in the public’s face, writing “And let me guess, the co host is Taylor?”
Two others said, “I muted him and Taylor on Twitter and here they are again,” and “Stop forcing him on us.”
Oh Lord… Please Help Us! 🙄
— Sir Guido The X-istential 🤔 (@The_Couve) April 16, 2024
Travis Kelce to Host Prime Video Game Show, ‘Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?’https://t.co/BNhOfdNjyb
While many are not excited, Kelce seems elated.
“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,’” Kelce said in a statement.
“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,” he continued. “And excited to see how these famous faces keep up.”
The inaugural season, comprising 20 episodes, will be available for streaming exclusively on Prime Video, a leap from the original shows.
