16 April 2024 – Prime Video today announced it has ordered Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?, with Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce set as host. The 20-episode order is a spinoff of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and is being produced by MGM Alternative, a division of Amazon MGM Studios. The series will premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? offers a fun, new twist on the premise of the original popular format. Each game will welcome an adult contestant who will rely on a classroom full of celebrities from stage, screen, and sports to help them answer 11 questions on a range of subjects, pulled from elementary curriculum, in an effort to win a $100,000 prize. They are not competing against the stars…they’re enlisting their help and, in some cases, can even “cheat” off of them. And on the final question, worth $100,000, the contestant selects one celebrity to discuss the answer with before locking in. The final question is always at the 6th-grade level.

Fresh off his victory at Super Bowl LVIII, Kelce, one of the most recognizable names in sports and pop culture, turns his attention to his first major television role as host of Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? An eight-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro, Kelce continues to pad his Hall of Fame resume, reaching milestones that make him one of the greatest tight ends of all time. In addition to being a generational talent and the co-host of the top-charting sports podcast, New Heights, Kelce is building a portfolio across industries. He has a passion for the entertainment business and an interest in bringing more live events, entertainment, and community initiatives anchored in music, sports, fashion, and comedy to his diverse global audience.

“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. I’m just happy to be on the hosting side of the equation here and excited to see how these famous faces keep up,” said Travis Kelce.

“For years, fans around the world have tested their smarts with this fun, nostalgic game show, and we look forward to bring this reimagined format to Prime Video,” says Lauren Anderson, head of AVOD originals unscripted and targeted programming, Amazon MGM Studios. “Travis has proven to be an incredible talent on and off the field, and we appreciate the trust he has placed in us with his first foray into television. His natural, comedic dynamic with our panelists and guests, coupled with some exciting new twists, will keep our global customers coming back week after week.”

“After producing more than 3,000 episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? globally, we wanted to come up with a new, loud twist on the format. Replacing the kids with celebrities gives us more laughs and surprises, like a roast, as contestants cheat off their famous classmates,” said Barry Poznick, general manager of MGM Alternative and co-creator of the series. “And now, with the ultimate class clown, Travis Kelce, hosting, viewers should expect the unexpected!”

The original U.S. version of the Emmy-nominated Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader was co-created by Poznick and John Steven. The game show premiered in 2007 to a record-breaking 27 million viewers[1] and a cumulative audience of more than 800 million total viewers during its run[2]. Since 2007, it has remained the No. 1 game-show premiere in broadcast television history[3]. Since first being introduced, the series has seen 55 countries produce local versions, with more than 3,000 original episodes produced globally. The Are You Smarter brand continues to be relevant today, inspiring late-night versions of the show and millions of dollars in merchandise, including a board game, a companion book and apparel.

Wes Kauble will serve as showrunner, with Kauble and Mark Burnett executive producing. Sean Kelly and Steve Hughes will serve as co-executive producers. The format is distributed by Amazon MGM Studios Distribution.

About Prime Video:

Prime Video is a one-stop entertainment destination offering customers a vast collection of premium programming in one application available across thousands of devices. On Prime Video, customers can find their favorite movies, series, documentaries, and live sports – including Amazon MGM Studios-produced series and movies Saltburn, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Reacher, The Boys, and AIR; licensed fan favorites Dawson’s Creek and M3GAN; Prime member exclusive Thursday Night Football; and programming from partners such as Max, Crunchyroll and MGM+ via Prime Video Channels add-on subscriptions, as well as more than 450 free ad-supported (FAST) Channels. Prime members in the U.S. can share a variety of benefits, including Prime Video, by using Amazon Household. Prime Video is one benefit among many that provides savings, convenience, and entertainment as part of the Prime membership. All customers, regardless of whether they have a Prime membership or not, can rent or buy titles, including blockbusters such as Barbie and Oppenheimer, via the Prime Video Store, and can enjoy content such as Jury Duty and Bosch: Legacy free with ads on Freevee. Customers can also go behind the scenes of their favorite movies and series with exclusive X-Ray access. For more info visit www.amazon.com/primevideo.

About MGM:

Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), a division of Amazon MGM Studios Company, is a leading entertainment company focused on the production and global distribution of film and television content across all platforms. The company owns one of the world’s deepest libraries of premium film and television series, as well as the premium commercial free pay television network MGM+ U.S., which is available domestically via cable, satellite, telco and digital distributors. MGM+ International, an on-demand service, delivers the best of MGM’s rich catalogue of movies and series to an international audience, and is available in 25 countries across Europe, Australia, Asia, Latin America, and Canada. MGM also owns unscripted production companies Big Fish Entertainment and Evolution Media. For more information, visit www.mgm.com.

About Travis Kelce:

Consistently ranked as the #1 Tight End in the league, this future Hall-of-Famer continues to break records for 11 seasons straight. He holds the record for the most receiving yards by a tight end in any single season and consistently proves to be a transcendent athlete.

The Cleveland Heights native launched his top-charting sports podcast, “New Heights”; an homage to Kelce’s roots, in September 2022. In collaboration with his Super Bowl Champion-winning brother and co-host, Jason Kelce, the clips are going viral weekly as the series remains in the top 5 of sports podcast over the last six months. In March 2023, he took to the stage at the iconic NBC show, “Saturday Night Live,” as one of the few athletes ever invited to do so. His creative and entrepreneurial ventures led to the development of his clothing line, “Tru Kolors” – which is designed around his love for bold 90s, sport-aesthetic. The brand partnered with the Chiefs to release official NFL merch for the 2022 & 2023 playoffs, and was the first ever NFL athlete local club collab in league history. During the 2023 NFL Draft, his pop culture status took on new levels as he hosted his first sold-out music festival, “ Kelce Jam”, with over 17,000 attendees and major label headlining performances. Known for his unique style, Sports Illustrated ranked him as one of the best dressed athletes globally.

In 2015, Kelce launched 87 & Running, a foundation to empower underserved youth to succeed by providing resources and support to their communities. In partnership with respected educators, he is cultivating local experts in education, business, athletics, STEM, and the arts.

Being one of the most recognizable names in sports, Kelce is a true multi-hyphenate talent. He continues building his entertainment and business portfolio across industries, anchored around his music, sports, and comedy passions. Kelce is a generational athlete who will soon bring more live events, entertainment, and community initiatives to his diverse global audience.