John Cena’s work outside WWE continues to grow as the 16-time champion announced a couple of new projects with Nickelodeon according to Variety.com which carried the story.
For starters, Cena will be returning as a host of Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards, his second time in a row hosting the popular kids event. In addition, Cena is also joining the voice cast of the Nickelodeon’s new animated series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and executive producing new gameshow Keep it Spotless for the channel.
“He’s just one of those people who kids love, so why wouldn’t we want to be in business with him?” Nickelodeon Group president Cyma Zarghami said of Cena.
“Nickelodeon and I, we share the same looking glass,” said Cena. “We like to make kids laugh and we like kids to have fun. Nickelodeon doesn’t do programming that doesn’t have comedy in it, that doesn’t have smiles in it. I really enjoy putting smiles on faces.”
Zarghami said that it was an easy decision for the network to ask Cena to host the Kids’ Choice once again and the general feeling was that “there was a resounding ‘He’s our guy.’” Zarghami also noted that with Cena as host, there was an uptick in male viewership for Kids’ Choice, up 19% among boys 6-11. “We don’t often have somebody come back two years in a row,” Zarghami said. “But having him come back two years in a row is perfect for us.”
On the new Ninja Turtles cartoon, Cena will voice an original villain named Baron Draxum. “If you were of my age, you know Ninja Turtles, you were a fan of Ninja Turtles,” said Cena. “Being able to recreate ‘Ninja Turtles’ and be involved in the franchise is really special.”
And as far as his production duties for Keep it Spotless, the show will be produced by ITV Entertainment and Cena’s Hard Nocks South Productions, and based on a U.K. format from Possessed. Keep it Spotless features kid contestants vying for cash prizes as they compete to keep clean while navigating obstacles designed to make them messy.
“It’s like the chaos and the slime-ability of Kids’ Choice meets that crazy scene in the original ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ where everyone is wearing white suits and the kid gets transported through the TV,” Cena said. “It’s gonna be super special to kids.”
Keep it Spotless and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are set to premiere later this year. The Kids’ Choice Awards telecast is scheduled to air live on Nickelodeon March 24 at 8PM.
