Alex Warren to Host Nickelodeon's 2026 Kids' Choice Awards

Grammy-nominated musician Alex Warren will host Nickelodeon's 39th annual Kids' Choice Awards on Nov. 14, moving from TikTok to network television — and, by tradition, into the slime. Fan voting is now open across 36 categories.

The ceremony airs live from Los Angeles on CBS and Nickelodeon from 8 to 9:30 p.m. ET, and streams live on Paramount+ for premium subscribers. It becomes available on demand the next day for both premium and essential subscribers in the U.S., and globally on Paramount+ after its linear premiere on Nickelodeon.

Who leads the 2026 nominations?

Taylor Swift tops all individual nominees with six nominations. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter follow, tied with five each. BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, Cardi B and Karol G also earned nominations across the artist, song, album and collaboration categories.

Blockbuster franchises dominate this year's field. "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," "Toy Story 5," "Wednesday," "Wicked: For Good," "The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants," "KPop Demon Hunters" and "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" all appear across multiple categories.

What's new this year?

Three categories debut at the 2026 ceremony:

• Watch Party: Kids' Choice
• Favorite On-Screen Duo/Trio
• Favorite Clutch Player of the Year

The Favorite Movie race pits "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Superman" against "Avatar: Fire and Ash," "Jurassic World Rebirth," "Lilo & Stitch," "Moana" and "Wicked: For Good." In Favorite Kids TV Show, contenders include "Avatar: The Last Airbender," "Vampirina: Teenage Vampire" and "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place."

Which stars picked up acting nods?

The Favorite Movie Actress category spans Anne Hathaway ("The Devil Wears Prada 2"), Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo ("Wicked: For Good"), Zendaya ("Spider-Man: Brand New Day"), Scarlett Johansson ("Jurassic World Rebirth"), Zoe Saldaña ("Avatar: Fire and Ash"), Millie Bobby Brown ("Enola Holmes 3") and Catherine Laga'aia ("Moana").

Favorite Movie Actor nominees include Tom Holland, Dwayne Johnson, Adam Sandler, Hugh Jackman, Ryan Gosling, John Cena, David Corenswet and Zach Galifianakis.

The new Favorite On-Screen Duo/Trio category delivers some of the year's marquee pairings: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci in "The Devil Wears Prada 2," Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in "Freakier Friday," and the "Toy Story 5" trio of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack.

What about the music races?

Warren himself is nominated — "Bloodline" with Jelly Roll appears in Favorite Music Collaboration alongside Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter's "Bring Your Love" and Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" featuring Sabrina Carpenter. Other musical performances and celebrity appearances will be announced at a later date, according to the network.

Favorite Album nominees include Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl," Sabrina Carpenter's "Man's Best Friend," BTS's "ARIRANG," Drake's "ICEMAN," Bruno Mars's "The Romantic," Justin Bieber's "SWAG," Cardi B's "Am I the Drama?" and Olivia Rodrigo's "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love."

The Favorite Global Music Star category recognizes Tyla (Africa), BINI (Asia), Tame Impala (Australia), Zara Larsson (Europe), Karol G (Latin America), Taylor Swift (North America) and Olivia Dean (UK).

Done + Dusted produces the show, with Burger King and Wayfair as official sponsors. With Warren hosting and a six-nomination lead for Swift, the Nov. 14 broadcast will show whether Nickelodeon's fan-voted format still delivers surprises — and how much slime a first-time host can survive.