bitchy | Travis Kelce described himself as ‘a guy that can’t really read that well’

Travis Kelce was the guest host of a 2023 Saturday Night Live episode. This was before he even met Taylor Swift, and he was invited to host because the Kansas City Chiefs had just won another Super Bowl. I remember reading some interviews with various SNL cast members who pointed out that Travis, while charismatic, was not a natural actor or performer, and he was really nervous about learning his lines. Someone said that he spent a lot of time in his dressing room, reciting his lines to his crew of bros. Well, Travis recently appeared on another podcast, and he spoke about how he “can’t really read that well.”

Travis Kelce had some trouble behind the scenes when hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2023. During a recent interview on the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end said that the “hardest” part of hosting “SNL” was the pre-show table read because he “can’t really read that well.”

“The writers’ rooms were fun because you’re just getting pitched ideas,” Kelce explained. “The table reading, for a guy that can’t really read that well, it was kind of a f–ked situation… I felt like I was just trying to get through the reading instead of actually acting it out and giving it a voice and giving it a character and things like that,” he added. “I was just focused on, ‘Don’t f–king skip this line.’”

Kelce hosted the 14th episode of “SNL” Season 48 on March 4, 2023. He was joined by musical guest Kelsea Ballerini. Once past the table read, the Super Bowl champion said he was “so much more comfortable” engaging with “the comedy” and “the silly stuff.”

“There was still a sense of like, ‘I need to be a professional here,’” Kelce said. “I want to take advantage of this, but I want to have fun doing it, but I don’t want to look like a loser doing this. I want to make them respect my approach and how I’m like taking it serious. But it was just a fun roller coaster, man.”

[From Variety]

Do you think he means that he has a tough time with general literacy and actual reading, or is he using “reading” as industry-speak, like “I wasn’t good at the table read-through?” I think it was probably both – he has difficulties with reading, and those difficulties were heightened in the table-read environment. Anyway, there are definitely techniques to employ to help him become a better reader.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.