Travis Kelce just landed another hosting gig: The three-time Super Bowl champion will direct a spinoff of “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”
Kelce's version of the game show: “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?” – will be the famed tight end's first entry into a television series after successfully hosting “Saturday Night Live” last year and starring in the short-lived E! 2016. reality dating show, “Catching Kelce.” Amazon's Prime Video on Tuesday ordered 20 episodes of the new series, which is being produced by MGM Alternative, a division of Amazon MGM Studios.
“I grew up loving game shows and I'm excited to follow in the footsteps of so many TV icons by hosting my first one with 'Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity,'” the diversifying star said in a statement. “The original show is a huge hit, so bringing a new format featuring everyone's favorite celebrities to the screen will definitely be entertaining.”
The “New Heights” podcast host, who made headlines earlier this year when his girlfriend Taylor Swift's fans resurfaced his sassy old tweets, added that he's happy to be “on the host side of the equation here and excited to See how these famous faces hold up.” (Let's hope no one asks him to spells “squirrel”).
Barry Poznick, CEO of MGM Alternative and co-creator of the series, called Kelce “the ultimate class clown.”
Lauren Anderson, head of original, unscripted and directed AVOD programming at Amazon MGM Studios, praised the 34-year-old athlete's “natural, comedic dynamic” and said Kelce “has proven to be an incredible talent on and off the field.”
“We appreciate the trust you have placed in us with your first foray into television,” he added.
“Are you smarter than a celebrity?” will offer “a loud new spin” on the original game show format from the early 2000s. The spin-off will feature an adult contestant in each game who will rely on a classroom of celebrities from stage, screen and sports to help answer 11 questions drawn from the elementary school curriculum. The grand prize is $100,000.
“They are not competing against the stars… they are asking for their help and, in some cases, may even 'scam' them,” Prime Video said in a statement. In the final question, which will be for the sixth grade level and will be worth $100,000, the contestant will select a celebrity to discuss the answer with before closing it.
Although a debut date has not been announced, the series will premiere in more than 240 countries and territories, Prime Video said.
The Emmy-nominated U.S. version of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”, which was hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, quizzed adults on fifth-grade level (and below) math, science and history. It was co-created by Poznick and John Steven and premiered in 2007 to a record 27 million viewers.
