We're currently in the midst of Saturday Night Live's longest break of the season. The show and its Not Ready For Primetime Players are off for nearly a month and will not return until mid-January.
It's hard not to be pleased with what we've seen over the course of the first nine episodes. Some of the new cast members, most notably Ashley Padilla, have started to find their voice, and the collective reaction to many of the sketches, both political and random bits of comedy, have been positive.
There was initially some skepticism about how this season might play out. Between coming down off the high of SNL 50 and losing some prominent cast members (including Bowen Yang who stepped away mid-season), some detractors were worried about how the show would find its footing. That's definitely not been a problem, thanks in part to good work from some terrific hosts.
We don't have a ton of info yet about what we're going to see after the break, but thankfully, we do have at least one host already committed. Expect to get more announcements in early to mid January...
Saturday Night Live Season 51 Hosts and Musical Guests
Here's who we have coming up next...
January 17th, 2026 - Finn Wolfhard
Date: January 17th
Host: Finn Wolfhard
# Of Previous Hosting Appearances: 1
Musical Guest: A$AP Rocky
# Of Previous Musical Appearances: 1
Given Stranger Things is rolling out its final episodes over the holidays, it's not surprising to see we're getting someone from the cast hosting SNL. The show loves aligning itself with big cultural moments, especially in entertainment, and Stranger Things taking its final bow is the story right now.
That being said, it is perhaps a bit surprising that we're getting Finn Wolfhard. Millie Bobby Brown is definitely the more famous name on the cast, but the history of SNL has showed us that how famous you are doesn't have a whole lot of overlap with how good you are at hosting the show. Some of the best hosts in history are among the most famous and the least famous. Personally, I think Finn is going to crush it, and I can't wait to see him in action.
Hosts And Musical Guests That Already Had Their Turn
December 20th, 2025 - Ariana Grande
Date: December 20th
Host: Ariana Grande
# Of Previous Hosting Appearances: 2
Musical Guest: Cher
# Of Previous Musical Appearances: 1
Both Grande and Cher have a long history with SNL. Both women have been impersonated multiple times by multiple cast members, and they've each made appearances as themselves before. Grande has been strictly the musical guest twice, strictly the host once and simultaneously the host and musical guest once. Cher was the musical guest all the way back in 1987, which has to be up near the top for longest gaps between appearances.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, she was fantastic again. Several sketches she was involved in went super viral, including a reimagining of the Home Alone ending that's a hard R-rating. Given how much her career is rolling, it would be a shock not to see her back and a shock not to see her eventually join the 5-Timers Club.
December 13th, 2025 - Josh O'Connor
Date: December 13th
Host: Josh O'Connor
# Of Previous Hosting Appearances: 0
Musical Guest: Lily Allen
# Of Previous Musical Appearances: 1
British actor Josh O'Connor might not be the most famous movie star hitting up Studio 8H this season, but I absolutely love the pick. The Emmy winner has been fantastic in a huge variety of projects, from The Crown to The Durrells to Challengers, and it was nice to see him bring a very different and less traditionally comedic energy to Studio 8H.
He was clearly elated to be there, and he jumped into a wide variety of goofy sketches, some of which involved making out with his fellow cast members.
December 6th, 2025 - Melissa McCarthy
Date: December 6th
Host: Melissa McCarthy
# Of Previous Hosting Appearances: 5
Musical Guest: Dijon
# Of Previous Musical Appearances: 0
Not only is Melissa McCarthy in SNL's esteemed 5 Timers Club, she's also in a select club of having made double digit appearances on the show thanks to her run of cameos as former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Those appearances after President Trump's first election are probably the most famous in her SNL career, but they're not the reason she keeps getting invited back.
She keeps getting invited back because she can do a wide variety of types of comedy, and she's up for doing anything. She proved that again this time with sketches that touched on everything from awkward sadness to Chris Farley-like physical comedy. Fingers crossed we see her back again sometime over the next few seasons.
November 15th, 2025 - Glen Powell
Date: November 15th
Host: Glen Powell
# Of Previous Hosting Appearances: 0
Musical Guest: Olivia Dean
# Of Previous Musical Appearances: 0
Glen Powell had already cameoed during Sydney Sweeney's gig, but it was fantastic to see him as the full-blown host. Many fans called his episode the best of the season so far, and there's already speculation about when he might come back to host the show again. It helps that his episode attracted a ton of headlines, both because of a surprise MacGruber cameo and because Powell himself brought out a surprise guest.
Apparently Powell was first contacted to host SNL all the way back in 2021. He agreed and excitedly celebrated with his family and a UPS driver who happened to be delivering a package at the time. Unfortunately, it fell through after Top Gun got delayed; so, when he got the chance to host again, his family tracked down the UPS driver and brought him with them. Just a hilarious and heart-warming story.
November 8th, 2025 - Nikki Glaser
Date: November 8th
Host: Nikki Glaser
# Of Previous Hosting Appearances: 0
Musical Guest: sombr
# Of Previous Musical Appearances: 0
Nikki Glaser has been well known in the stand-up community for more than a decade, but over the past few years, she's started to break out into the mainstream. Her appearance at Tom Brady's Roast was very well-received, and earlier this year, she hosted The Golden Globe Awards.
SNL marked perhaps the biggest moment of her career and hopefully the start of an increase in stand-up comedians. The show has always focused more on bringing in movies and TV stars and even pop culture figures and athletes, but stand-up comedians can bring an entirely different dynamic. Hopefully we get to see Glaser again, as well as more stand-ups in general.
November 1st, 2025 - Miles Teller
Date: November 1st
Host: Miles Teller
# Of Previous Hosting Appearances: 1
Musical Guest: Brandi Carlile
# Of Previous SNL Musical Appearances: 3
Miles Teller went a few years between SNL hosting gigs, but if his career keeps rolling, it's hard to imagine the show keeping him away for that long again. He once again proved he can be really funny in a silly way, and he's obviously good at providing a more subdued straight man to the louder and more obnoxious cast members.
October 18, 2025 - Sabrina Carpenter
Date: October 18, 2025
Host and Musical Guest: Sabrina Carpenter
# Of Previous SNL Hosting Gigs: 0 + 1 Musical Performance
Sabrina Carpenter joined decorated list of musicians who’ve pulled double-duty on Saturday Night Live when she hosted and served as the musical performer on the October 18, 2025, episode. Not surprisingly, she was fantastic and generated a ton of headlines for both her musical performances and her outrageous sketches.
October 11, 2025 - Amy Poehler & Role Model
Date: October 11, 2025
Host: Amy Poehler
# Of Previous SNL Hosting Gigs: 2
Musical Guest: Role Model
# Of Previous SNL Performances: 0
Saturday Night Live alum Amy Poehler returned to host the iconic sketch show for the third time when she headlines the second episode of Season 51. A member of the SNL cast from 2001 to 2008, Poehler has returned countless times over the years, with her most recent appearance before this taking place during the Saturday Night Live 50 celebration back in February. Not surprisingly, she was fantastic, as per usual.
October 4, 2025 - Bad Bunny & Doja Cat
Date: October 4, 2025
Host: Bad Bunny
# Of Previous SNL Hosting Gigs: 1 + 3 Musical Performances
Musical Guest: Doja Cat
# Of Previous SNL Performances: 0
Rapper/actor/wrestler Bad Bunny hosted Saturday Night Live for the second time (he also has three other appearances as the musical guest) during the premiere episode of Season 51 on October 4, 2025. The Happy Gilmore 2 star previously hosted an episode back in 2023, which also featured Mick Jagger and Pedro Pascal in memorable cameos. It was Doja Cat's first performance at Studio 8H.
The Saturday Night Live Season 51 Cast
Saturday Night Live is welcoming a bunch of new faces this fall to NBC (and Peacock). Nearly a half-dozen new featured players officially joined the ranks of longtime cast members like Mikey Day, Bowen Yang, and Kenan Thompson, when the show debuted last week. The new additions to the cast include standup comics, TikTok stars, and even one-third of the Please Don’t Destroy team.
Below is a full list of everyone you’ll be watching on Saturday Night Live this season. Please note that all new cast members are in bold.
- Michael Che
- Mikey Day
- Andrew Dismukes
- Chloe Fineman
- Marcello Hernandez
- James Austin Johnson
- Colin Jost
- Sarah Sherman
- Kenan Thompson
- Bowen Yang
- Tommy Brennan
- Jeremy Culhane
- Ben Marshall
- Ashley Padilla
- Kam Patterson
- Veronika Slowikowska
- Jane Wickline
SNL Cast Members Not Returning After Season 50
Not long after Saturday Night Live head honcho Lorne Michaels announced there would be a shakeup ahead of Season 51, the departures started to trickle in. After not letting go of anyone on the cast (both repertory members and featured players), the long-running sketch comedy show let go of some major talent in the lead-up to the season premiere.
In August 2025, the first departure was announced when it was revealed that Devon Walker wouldn’t be returning after three years on the show. We didn’t have long to let the news sink in before other members of the cast started announcing they weren’t coming back, starting with Emil Wakim, and then followed by the departure of Michael Longfellow. The biggest shock came days later when it was announced that longtime fan-favorite Heidi Gardner would not be coming back after nearly a decade of making audiences laugh week in and week out. Not long after that, Ego Nwodim revealed she had left the show after seven seasons.
That is as far as we know, for now, for SNL Season 51. However, this will change when Lorne Michaels and company start announcing additional hosts and musical guests that’ll appear later in the season.
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