Heidi Gardner Campaigned “A Couple Years” For Travis Kelce To Host ‘SNL’

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Travis Kelce had someone at Saturday Night Live pulling for him.

SNL repertory player Heidi Gardner recently revealed on an episode of Amanda Hirsch’s Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast that she campaigned for the Kansas City Chiefs tight end to host the NBC late-night sketch show for a while — something executive producer and creator Lorne Michaels eventually agreed to on one condition.

“The biggest swing I ever did in that department, and it did work, but it took a couple years, was Travis Kelce,” Gardner, who was born and raised in Kansas City, Mo., recounted. “I don’t want to take full credit [from] the show and the talent department, but I’m just obviously a big Chiefs fan, and I had seen him do other little acting gigs and appearances, and I was like, ‘He’s funny, he’s charming.’ I had done the ESPYs with him, announcing something together.”

The Shrinking actress said this was prior to Kelce’s explosion in a differing sphere of pop culture, as a result of his relationship with superstar singer Taylor Swift.

“Lorne was like, ‘Well, he has to win the Super Bowl.’ And I was like, ‘That is so much pressure to ask!’ And then he won the Super Bowl!” (Kelce has since racked up three coveted Super Bowl rings.)

Kelce hosted the show in March 2023 alongside musical guest Kelsea Ballerini. His time on SNL was received warmly, poking fun at his cultural cachet with the memorable Bowen Yang sketch called “Straight Male Friend” and Gardner’s own “Abby the Ex-Girlfriend.

Elsewhere on the podcast, Gardner said she’d love to see additional sports-hailing hosts like Kelce’s teammate, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and LeBron James, as well as veteran actors Catherine O’Hara and Nicolas Cage. She also noted that her Shrinking co-star Harrison Ford, despite being a staple in Hollywood, has never graced Studio 8H.

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