Maybe I'm just playing devils advocate (and might have made this point before, or just thought about it, i forget) but i think the nine club without Chris would have flopped out the gate. His enthusiasm keeps it from dragging, he keeps the pace moving and provides contrast to the other hosts, sure he's annoying and i think sometimes he plays dumb so the guest can tell a well known story in their own words, adding minutes and potential revenue to each episode. I also think he often really is using some dry humor that flies under the radar. If the nine club was geared to what we slappers want to see it would have less than 2% of it's current viewership, and wouldn't have the clout to get the range of guests they do. His tv show presenter schtick makes it more palatable for normies. Clicks from normies pay bills.
Without him it would just be:
Kelly: hi guest, glad you could make i- Wow! That's so cool!
Eldy: I'm uhhhhhh dipshit
Kelly: laughs *sips milk*
Steezus: why am i even here
Rog: *sneers, sips Stella*
Guest: ummmm