Travis Kelce has officially made his debut as a game show host — but he didn’t get away unscathed.
The first three episodes of Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? premiered on Prime Video on Oct. 16, and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 35, was the perfect host as he welcomed a series of contestants who each tried their best to answer 11 questions that ranged from first to sixth-grade level and spanned a variety of subjects.
In the show’s second episode, titled, “The Only Mythology I Know Is My Love Life,” one of the contestants chose comedian Nikki Glaser from the panel of celebrities to help her.
When Glaser, 40, walked up to greet the contestant, she made a hilarious joke aimed at Kelce — and with a nod to his popstar girlfriend Taylor Swift. “Do you have any motivational speech for Travis? Cause his life is, like, not going great,” Glaser joked.
She listed “his career” and “his love life” as she said, “I think he just needs [some motivation].”
“I find motivation in everything,” Kelce quipped back.
On the third episode, titled “Keep in Mind, I Failed Fourth Grade,” Kelce made another hilarious comment as he told the contestant Aarti Garg, the sister of Love on the Spectrum’s Subodh, “You’ve been killing it. This is your Super Bowl.”
He then joked, “And I’ve never played this well in a Super Bowl.”
Kelce has been admittedly nervous for the game show to premiere, as it marks his first foray into the hosting world. On the Oct. 16 episode of his and Jason Kelce’s podcast, Travis said he was “terrified what people are gonna say” in response to the show.
“I was kinda like quizzing myself going through the questions in the back, just making sure,” he said of how he prepared. “I would read them once just so, because I’m a terrible reader, so I would make sure I would get all the pronunciations done and corrected in the background.”
Despite his nerves, Travis “had so much fun” making the show after being a lifelong game show fan.
“I never in a million years thought I was ever going to be an actual host of a game show,” he said. “I always thought it was gonna be fun to, like, maybe go on one of the game shows. And then somebody asked me, ‘Do you wanna host it?’”
Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? is a “fun, new twist on the premise of the original popular format,” Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, which Travis has said he was always a fan of.
Along with Glaser, the panel of celebrities joining the show includes comedian Natasha Leggero, actress and producer Lilly Singh, Thursday Night Football analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick, former NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills‘ Garcelle Beauvais, Vanderpump Rules‘ Lala Kent and podcaster Sophia Stallone. Comedians Nicole Byer and Ron Funches will also star among the celebrity panel.
Each contestant will have the chance to win a $100,000 prize, should they manage to answer all 11 questions — and one final sixth-grade level question — correctly.