Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2021: Kenan Thompson Set to Host

SNL star Keenan Thompson will be hosting the 2021 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. According to Variety, Thompson will serve as ringmaster of the big show, as it trades the traditional live venue ceremony for a virtual event that will take fan way up into outer space, and then deep down to the ocean floor to visit Bikini Bottom, the fictional underwater town that is home to SpongeBob SquarePants and all his friends. Notably, though he is an alum of the network, this is actually Thompson’s first time ever hosting the Kid’s Choice Awards.

This year’s show will still feature a number of celebrities and sports superstars, only this time fans will have an option to interact with them virtually from the safety of their homes. Variety reports that the producers have crafted an exciting show that will have families digitally sharing the stage with all their favorite A-list stars. The show will take place live on Saturday, March 13, at 7:30 p.m. ET. However, fans can first head to KidsChoiceAwards.com to vote for their favorite celebrities, movies, and TV shows in various categories.

Thompson is not new to Nickelodeon, as his acting career was catapulted at the network when he joined the cast of its ’90s sketch comedy series, All That. He would later go on to co-star in Kenan & Kel, with his fellow All That castmate Kel Mitchell. Eventually, Thompson graduated from Nickelodeon and was cast on Saturday Night Live. He has been a staple on the long-running sketch series since 2003.

If Thompson needs any advice for hosting the show, he may consider calling up actor, and WWE icon, John Cena, who hosted back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. In a previous interview with EW, Cena spoke about his first time hosting the show, saying, “I love the Kids’ Choice Awards, having been part of many of them before even hosting. The audience and the environment is very similar to a WWE audience, and the show is built for the kids. Not only are the kids in the live audience, but it’s the audience in the home as well.”

Cena added, “I think it’s the only one of its kind in that format: Nickelodeon goes above and beyond to not only produce a great show that translates well to television, but kids have so much fun. They’re empowered to just let loose and go crazy. The show is just that: It’s crazy with stuff you don’t necessarily see at your typical awards show, and I just really love that environment.”