Travis Kelce hosted “Saturday Evening Reside” in March 2023. Now, “SNL” solid member Heidi Gardner is giving the behind-the-scenes particulars on how she obtained him to host within the first place.

On an episode of the “Not Skinny However Not Fats” podcast, Gardner mentioned that “the largest swing I ever did in that division, and it did work, nevertheless it took a pair years, was Travis Kelce. I don’t need to take full credit score from the present and the expertise division, however I’m simply, clearly a giant Chiefs fan, and I had seen him do like different little appearing gigs and appearances, and I used to be like, ‘He’s humorous, he’s charming.’”

The 2 offered a class collectively on the 2023 ESPY Awards. After years of Gardner pushing for Kelce to host “SNL,” government producer and creator Lorne Michaels gave in on one situation: Kelce needed to win the Tremendous Bowl first.

“I used to be like, ‘That’s a lot stress to ask.’ After which he gained the Tremendous Bowl,” Gardner recalled. Actually, Kelce was a part of the successful Kansas Metropolis Chiefs groups in 2020, 2023 and 2024.

Gardner described what number of of Kelce’s family and friends got here to see the present. She didn’t suppose that the Kelces would have time to affix Gardner for tailgating — till she obtained a textual content.

Gardner recollects how she opened her telephone “to an image of Travis and Jason Kelce in my dressing room consuming barbecue … [Kelce is] the one host in ‘SNL’ historical past that’s ever tailgated earlier than internet hosting the present.”

Many music followers have grown to affiliate Kelce with Taylor Swift, though they began publicly courting six months after Kelce hosted “SNL.” Since his gig on “SNL,” Kelce starred within the FX present “Grotesquerie” and is about to seem in “Blissful Gilmore 2,” releasing on Netflix in 2025.