‘Superfan’ Host Keltie Knight Calls New CBS Series a ‘Musical Extravaganza’ (Exclusive)

A new unscripted series is airing on CBS and will be a treat for music fans. Superfan will premiere on the network on Aug. 9, and the series has the chance to be the hit show of the summer. PopCulture.com spoke exclusively to Superfan co-host and co-creator Keltie Knight who revealed what fans should expect from the series. 

“Superfan is really a big, shiny-floor, musical extravaganza, but I really wanted to create a show that fans didn’t need talent,” Knight exclusively told PopCulture. “I feel like with everything on TV right now, it’s like you need to be able to sing or light yourself on fire or dance, and I just… Sometimes just being a fan of someone is your talent. And so fans are going to be competing. They’re going to be on stage with the biggest artists in music. They compete through all these rounds of trivia and musical trivia and knowing their artists. They do a head-to-head lip sync in front of the artist, and then we get a huge Grammy-style performance from artists like Gloria Estefan or Shania Twain or LL Cool J, and then America votes.”

The first season of Superfan includes six episodes and will feature Estefan, Twain and LL Cool J, as Knight mentioned. The other artist featured will be Kelsea Ballerini, Pitbull and Little Big Town. Knight, who is also the chief correspondent for E! News, said she enjoyed working with the artists on the show since they got to connect with their fans. 

“I have been to the Grammy Awards and to all the big events, and I’ve sat one-on-one with every single one of these artists and done in-depth interviews as part of my career,” Knight said. “This was a completely different situation, and I have to say, the stars were taken aback. And it takes a lot for LL Cool J to not be Cool J, but they were really taken aback because I think they’re such huge stars that they don’t get the opportunity to really sit with their fans and hear how much they’ve impacted their lives in these big ways.”

“And so Shania’s crying, Phil from Little Big Town’s crying, Kelsea’s just grabbing her face in shock. And I think they were really touched. And I think that’s what makes the show so special is that you get to fall in love with these artists. You learn things about them you might have not known. You don’t necessarily have to be a fan of the artists to watch the show, because it’s really just a people show. It’s about the people and the stories.”

Knight co-hosts Superfan with former NFL wide receiver Nate Burleson who is also a co-host on CBS Mornings. Knight said she and Burleson had an instant connection since they were born in Canada. “He was born just three hours from where I grew up,” Knight revealed. “His dad played in the Canadian Football League, so he was born in Calgary. I was born in Edmonton. And so we really bonded over that and it was really fun. And so on the first day of filming, he’d come from New York. He does morning TV, which is an exhausting grind. And I ended up finding a vintage Calgary Stampeders sweatshirt on eBay, and I put it in his dressing room. I was like, ‘Welcome to the family.’ It’s just a really cool moment, and so we just really bonded.”

Superfan premieres on CBS on Aug. 9 at 9 p.m.ET/PT with new episodes premiering every Wednesday. The series will also stream on Paramount+.