Will Forte Returns To ‘SNL’ For 1st Hosting Gig With Musical Guest Måneskin
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Former cast member Will Forte is no stranger to the ‘SNL’ stage, but he’s making his first-ever hosting debut.
Live from New York, it’s Saturday night! Season 47 of Saturday Night Live is well underway, and show runner Lorne Michaels has yet to disappoint with his choice of show hosts and musical guests. This week former cast member Will Forte, 51, returns to Studio 8H for his first-ever hosting gig alongside debut musical guest Måneskin on Saturday, January 22.
Owen Wilson, 52, opened the season musical guest Kacey Musgraves, 33, on Oct. 2. The Wedding Crashers star also made his hosting debut in season 47, chalking up the long wait to nerves. “I get really nervous with public speaking. I’ve never done any of those commencement addresses or Saturday Night Live just because I get too nervous,” he explained on a hike to friend Kevin Nealon in a YouTube video. Owen slayed it, and even had some help from his brothers Andrew, 57, and Luke, 50, during his opening monologue.
Learn more about this week’s show below.
Will Forte Set To Host ‘SNL’ For 1st Time
Saturday Night Live is no stranger to Will Forte, who was a regular cast member from 2002 – 2010. During his eight year tenure, he became well known for several hilarious characters such as MacGruber (which later became a film, and is now a TV series on Peacock), the “Ohhhh, nooooo!” guy Andy, and The Faloner (also known as Ken Mortimer).
Although he left the series in 2010, he’s returned for several cameos over the years including one in 2011, two in 2012 and his most recent in Nov. 2016 where he popped up in Kristen Wiig‘s monologue.
Will took to Twitter to share the announcement on Jan. 15, re-tweeting SNL‘s classic post-it note image. “This is about as exciting as it gets. Thanks @nbcsnl — can’t wait for Saturday,” Will wrote with a heart.
The ‘SNL’ Musical Guest Tonight Is Måneskin
Måneskin is the rock band everyone can’t stop talking about — which is a big reason they’re booked for their SNL debut! The Italian group from Rome is made up of members Ethan Torchio, 21, Victoria De Angelis, 21, Damiano David, 23, and Thomas Raggi, 21, who came together in 2016. The group name is Danish and translates in English to “Moonlight” (notably, Victoria is half Danish and helped come up with the name).
Måneskin initially gained public attention after competing on the Italian version of The X Factor back in 2017, where they came in second place. Despite not winning, they went on to keep making music — spawning several recent international hits like “I Wanna Be Your Slave” and “Zitti e buoni.”
“Don’t miss next Saturday the 22nd, our live performance at the @nbc’s Saturday Night Live show,” their official Twitter account read announcing the performance. “Can’t wait @nbcsnl.”
What Time Is ‘SNL’ On?
Saturday Night Live airs at 11:35 p.m. PST/EST and 9:30 p.m. MT on local NBC affiliates. The series can also be streamed live on the Peacock app.
‘SNL’ Cast Members This Season
Saturday Night Live has a number of new cast members joining the show this season, including Andrew Dismukes, Sarah Sherman, James Austin Johnson, Punkie Johnson and Aristotle Athari.
Michael Che and Colin Jost remain in their roles as “Weekend Update” hosts, which they took over in 2014 from Seth Meyers and Cecily Strong. Other returning cast members include Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Kenan Thompson, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Alex Moffatt, Kyle Mooney, Chris Redd, Ego Nwodim, Melissa Villaseñor, Bowen Yang and Cecily.
Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt announced their departures ahead of season 47. Beck, 36, took to social media with a heartfelt message about his exit. “Love you, SNL,” he wrote on Sept. 27. “Gonna miss you so much. Thank you for 8 years of remarkable people and incredible experiences that completely changed my life. I had so much fun,” he also penned, alongside a slew of photo highlights which you can see here.
Lauren also shared a sweet tribute to mark the end of her one year run. “What an incredible year spent with incredible people. I will always be so grateful,” the comedian began. “Cheers to all the cast members past, present, & future…so proud to be/have been a part of this amazing family. These three letters will always bring joy to my heart… SNL, I love you,” she also said.
