Saturday Night Live’s 50th season’s place on the 2024 TV schedule was already exciting, especially with another presidential election for the NBC series to help make light of, but the anticipation rose a ton this week when the hosts and musical guests for the first five shows were announced. Ariana Grande is among the hosts, and her Wicked director threw in his support in a really sweet way.
Grande will host the third episode of Saturday Night Live Season 50 on October 12, with the legendary Stevie Nicks acting as musical guest. Amidst the news of Grande’s return to SNL, check out this exchange between the singer and Wicked’s Jon M. Chu:
Jon M. Chu shared the announcement by commenting “favorite host ever.” Ariana Grande saw the filmmaker’s Instagram story and posted it to her own Instagram account with the response: “love you 🥹”. It’s a huge honor for the star to help spread the word about the Wicked release date, but she has a huge music icon alongside her for the night in Stevie Nicks and major support around her. It’s going to be a magical evening!
Jon M. Chu wasn’t the only big name to share their positive thoughts on the hosting gig. Her Instagram comments are full of them. Take a look at these:
- “Two witches!!!!!” – Bowen Yang
- “Yes!!!!!” – Josh Brolin
- “Um. Insane” – Rachel Zegler
- “Oh my god” – Troye Sivan
- “Wow. Wow. Wow.” – Tan France
Grande actually worked with a Saturday Night Live favorite on the upcoming musical, since Bowen Yang is part of the Wicked movie cast. Yang, who is set to be part of Season 50, commented that there will be “two witches” on the show that night, and given Grande is now Glinda the Good Witch, he is absolutely right. It’s also notable that Josh Brolin commented because he was the host last time she was on the show, which was as a musical guest back in March.
Ariana Grande first was part of Saturday Night Live in a big way when she was a musical guest in 2014, with Chris Pratt as host. She returned two years later to host for the first time, along with being the musical guest. This will be the first time she’ll be there specifically for her improv and acting talents – but here’s hoping her incredible vocal range will be involved, too.
Saturday Night Live 50 will premiere on September 28 with Jean Smart and Jelly Roll as the host and musical guest. Smart called the gig a “bucket list” thing for her when the announcement was made. On October 5, comedian Nate Bargatze will host with Coldplay, before Michael Keaton and Billie Eilish share the bill on October 19. Fans definitely lost their minds over news that John Mulaney and Chappell Roan will be the main acts on November 2.
We can’t wait to see how Grande leaves her mark this time on the hilarious NBC sketch show in just a few weeks.