Ariana Debose Hosting ‘SNL’ For 1st Time With Musical Guest Bleachers (A.K.A. Jack Antonoff)
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‘West Side Story’ is coming to ‘SNL’! Ariana Debose is set to make her hosting debut on the NBC sketch series on Saturday, Jan. 15.
Live from New York, it’s Saturday night! Season 47 of Saturday Night Liveis well underway, and show runner Lorne Michaels has yet to disappoint with his choice of show hosts and musical guests. This week, actress Ariana DeBose, 30, is set to make her debut on the series with musical guest Bleachers (stage name of Jack Antonoff). Bleachers replaces rapper Roddy Ricch who pulled out due to COVID-19.
The episode marks the first back since the quickly changing episode hosted by Paul Rudd (which was also his induction to the five-timers club). Due to COVID-19 variant Omicron, the live portion of episode was massively scaled back, with primarily pre-taped segments running. Tom Hanks flew in for a last minute assist, while Tina Fey made a hilarious re-appearance to fill in for Colin Jost on “Weekend Update” (the segment she used to host in the 2000s). The live audience was also cancelled as a result of changes.
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.
Ariana DeBose Set To Host ‘SNL’ For 1st Time
Saturday Night Live is back with a newcomer: Ariana DeBose! The 30-year-old is best known for her role as Anita in West Side Story directed by industry legend Steven Spielberg. The 2021 take on the 1957 classic earned Ariana plenty of industry accolades, including a win at the scaled-back 2022 Golden Globes in the Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture category. Beyond her portrayal as Anita, Ariana has been a success on broadway with roles in Hamilton and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (which earned her a Tony nomination).
Before her success in film and broadway, the Raleigh, North Carolina native got her start on dance competition series So You Think You Can Dance. The reality show lead to her debut in 2011’s Bring It On: The Musical, followed by appearances in Motown: The Musical in 2013 and 2014’s Pippin.
Ariana shared news of her SNL hosting gig on Jan. 9, and seemed over-the-moon about the milestone. “I’m hosting @nbcsnl,” she began, adding a mind blown emoji. “Hold please while I go collect my extremities, as I have exploded from excitement and sensible fear,” she hilariously added.
The ‘SNL’ Musical Guest Tonight Is Bleachers
Indie pop group Bleachers will be performing on SNL tonight, which is the stage name of Jack Antonoff. Jack is a well known music writer and producer, who was formerly engaged to Lena Dunham and is a close collaborator and friend of Taylor Swift: Jack notably worked on her last few albums, starting with 1989, right through to …reputation and more recent releases Folklore and Evermore. More recently, Jack has been romantically linked to Margaret Qualley, 26.
Evan Smith, Mikey Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Mike Riddleberger and Zem Audu make up the rest of Bleachers with Jack. The group is best known for their throwback inspired ’80s pop sound on tracks like “I Wanna Get Better” and “Don’t Take The Money.” The group released their last album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night on. July 30, 2021.
Like Ariana, Jack also shared SNL‘s announcement to his Instagram page two days ago — but decided that no caption was necessary. The band’s official page added a few words, writing, “the hardest attempt to date of taking the sadness out of saturday night …bleachers are the first musical guest of 2022 on @nbcsnl !!”
In a hilarious promo shot earlier this week, Jack decided Bleachers was perhaps not the best name for his band. “Hi, I’m Ariana DeBose. I’m hosting SNL this week with musical guest Bleachers,” Ariana started the promo, which also included cast member Bowen Yang. “Such a fun name…Bleachers. Like, ‘Hey, let’s go make out under the bleachers!’” Bowen hilariously quipped, as Jack initially tried to defend the name. “Nobody does that,” Jack responded, before ultimately agreeing with Ariana and Bowen. “That’s disgusting,” he said, before looking off-stage and presumably at his bandmates. “Guys, we gotta change the name. It’s a gross name,” he added.
Roddy Ricch was initially scheduled, but pulled put due to COVID-19.
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.
