Kimes, known for her extensive NFL knowledge, becomes the bee's first celebrity host since LeVar Burton in 2022. Mina Kimes is taking over as television host of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and the ESPN NFL analyst hopes to use her outsider’s perspective to capture the excitement of the 101-year-old competition. Kimes, whose hiring was announced Tuesday, becomes the first celebrity host for the bee since LeVar Burton in 2022. That was the year Scripps took over the broadcast from ESPN,