Fount of knowledge Travis Kelce is officially hosting Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?
Prime Video has ordered 20 whole episodes of the Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? spinoff
It’s official: the author of such stunning philosophical insights as “Too hype I just got this C on my exam without even studying… just using common knowledge!! s/o to Papa Kelce for the gene’s” and “Its such a nice day out….. as I stair from my math class…. smh #mustbenice” is taking on hosting duties for Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?, a show about measuring basic intelligence. You’d better watch your back, Ken Jennings—there’s a new wise guy in town.
Sure, Travis Kelce’s appointment to the post—confirmed by Prime Video today after weeks of rumors—is a bit of a confused choice; but then again, so is the show. Based on early-aughts contest Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, Celebrity will again see adult contestants attempt to answer 11 questions pulled from an elementary curriculum. Only this time, they’ll be aided by a “classroom” full of equally grown-up celebrities instead of the former grade school-aged kids. Why keep the pre-SAT questions if they have nothing to do with the new celebrity format? Who knows! Does knowing your multiplication tables and state capitals mean you’re actually smarter than a celebrity? Not really! But who cares! In the words of our beloved new leader, we’re just gonna chill out for a little n vibe to the scenary.
Luckily, the show isn’t called Are You Smarter Than The Host? or they might have to start printing money. (After ten initial questions, the final answer is worth $100,000.) At least Kelce seems to understand this. “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 tight end said in a statement (via Amazon). “I’m just happy to be on the hosting side of the equation here and excited to see how these famous faces keep up.”
None of those faces have been announced as of this writing, but Kelce’s proximity to one of the most recognizable and well-connected women in the world does make this whole prospect a little more interesting than it could have been otherwise. While it’s highly unlikely that Taylor Swift will grace the classroom herself (ps: how funny would it be if they make them sit in one of those awful chair-desk combos?), there’s no ruling out members of her growing squad. Maybe we’ll get an appearance from Ice Spice or Barry Keoghan. You don’t need to be a genius to see that that’s just good marketing.