Travis Kelce Is ‘The Perfect Host’ for ‘Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity’

Travis Kelce is trading his football for a microphone, and a source exclusively tells Us Weekly that the Super Bowl champion is already impressing people with his hosting skills as Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity starts filming.

“He’s funny and has the wits for it,” the insider tells Us of Kelce, 34. “He’s the perfect host. It’s a great gig for him.”

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end is filming several episodes back-to-back in Los Angeles, where he has been photographed with both girlfriend Taylor Swift and brother Jason Kelce during his off hours. The first episodes of Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity started filming at the beginning of the month, and production is expected to continue next week.

Us exclusively revealed on Wednesday, April 3, that Travis’ Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader reboot will be titled Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity. The upcoming Amazon Prime competition series will pit contestants against three stars as they answer trivia questions.

Travis previously starred in his own 2016 reality series, Catching Kelce, and he and brother Jason’s “New Heights” podcast has helped him log plenty of hours behind the mic. He rose to a new level of fame after he and Swift took their romance public in September 2023. However, the decision to try his hand at hosting happened long before the Super Bowl champion started dating the singer, who is supportive of his latest endeavor.

“Taylor is very excited about the opportunities Travis is getting and fully supports him,” a source told Us earlier this month. “[But] she wants him to be conscious of his schedule. The only issue is making sure they can see each other.”

Another insider told Us on April 3 that the Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity deal was signed “long before Travis’ profile was raised, and now he has to honor the contract. [They’ll shoot] several test episodes and really fine-tune the show and Kelce so this doesn’t embarrass him.”

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader initially aired on Fox from 2007 to 2009 and then went into syndication until 2011 with Jeff Foxworthy as host. The comedian returned as host in 2015 when Fox brought the show back to primetime for one season. John Cena took over duties as emcee when Nickelodeon rebooted the series for a single season in 2019.

Though Travis is exploring new career paths, he’s not ready to retire from the NFL just yet. In a January press conference, Kelce said he has “no reason” to hang up his jersey, adding, “I love it … We still have success.”

While he is staying busy in the off-season, he is still finding time to relax with Swift. Us exclusively revealed that the pair are going to Coachella together later this month.

With reporting by Andrea Simpson