See who is hosting “Saturday Night Live” each week.

Every* SNL* season 51 host and musical guest: Melissa McCarthy, Ariana Grande, more

See who is hosting "Saturday Night Live" each week.

By Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm is news director at *. *She has worked at EW for more than eight years. Jillian has previously worked as a reporter, social media editor, and homepage producer at NBC News, Digital First Media, Newsday, and *Random Lengths News.*

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on December 8, 2025 2:24 p.m. ET

Melissa McCarthy, Ariana Grande, Cher. Credit:

Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Kevin Winter/Getty; John Salangsang/Variety via Getty

- *Saturday Night Live *returned for season 51 on Oct. 4 with host Bad Bunny.

- Emmy-winning host Melissa McCarthy is set to return for a sixth stint in December.

- Josh O’Connor, Lily Allen, Ariana Grande, and Cher will all appear before the end of the year.

*Saturday Night Live* season 51 is in full swing, with a new lineup of celebrity hosts, musical guests, and a cast that looks a bit different.

NBC's legendary sketch comedy show returned Saturday, Oct. 4, with friend of the show Bad Bunny on hosting duty, while alum Amy Poehler returned to do the same on Oct. 11.

Returning for a sixth turn as host on Dec. 6 is Melissa McCarthy. The *Bridesmaids* star has been nominated for an Emmy every time she's hosted *SNL, *winning for her most recent stint in 2017.

Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer on 'Saturday Night Live'. Will Heath/NBC

Other upcoming hosts include first-timer Josh O’Connor with musical guest Lily Allen, and fan-favorite Ariana Grande with musical guest Cher, performing on *SNL *for the first time since 1987.

Returning members for season 51 are Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes, Chloe Fineman, Marcello Hernández, James Austin Johnson, Sarah Sherman, Bowen Yang, and Kenan Thompson embarking on his 23rd season. Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline also returned as featured players, while longtime "Weekend Update" anchors Michael Che and Colin Jost are also back behind the news desk**

But several performers did not return. Prior to the season 51 premiere, Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, and featured player Emil Wakim all exited *SNL*. Please Don't Destroy member John Higgins also announced his departure, meaning there won't be any digital sketches from the comedy trio this season.

Meanwhile, five new featured players joined the cast: Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson, Veronika Slowikowska, and Higgins' Please Don't Destroy mate Ben Marshall.

Meet the 5 new 'SNL' cast members for season 51

See every host in 'Saturday Night Live' Five-Timers Club

Read on as we track every new episode date, host, and musical guest for *Saturday Night Live* season 51. Make sure to check back each week for episode recaps and new host announcements, and tell us in the comments which episode you're most excited for.**

Oct. 4, 2025: Host Bad Bunny with musical guest Doja Cat

Bad Bunny hosts 'SNL'.

Saturday Night Live/YouTube

Hot off the news that he will be headlining the 2026 Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny hosted the season 51 premiere, joined by Doja Cat in her musical guest debut.

The Grammy winner previously hosted in October 2023, also performing as the episode's musical guest. He also just served as musical guest in the Scarlett Johansson-fronted season 50 finale in May, making *SNL *history as the first host or musical guest to be officially billed on two consecutive episodes.

This time around, the Puerto Rican superstar took a shot at his Super Bowl critics in the monologue, which also included a cameo from Jon Hamm.

Read our full recap of the Bad Bunny episode.**

Oct. 11, 2025: Host Amy Poehler with musical guest Role Model

Amy Poehler Monologue on 'SNL'.

Saturday Night Live/YouTube

*SNL *great Amy Poehler returned home to Studio 8H on Oct. 11, which was also the true 50th anniversary of the show's first-ever episode on Oct. 11, 1975. This was the *Parks and Recreation *star's third time hosting, including cohosting with Tina Fey in 2015. Poehler was an *SNL* cast member from 2001-2008, also anchoring "Weekend Update" with Fey and later Seth Meyers. All three alums appeared during the episode's news segment for a "joke-off" against Che and Jost.

Poehler was joined by musical guest Role Model. in his *SNL *debut. The musician brought out special guest Charli XCX during his song "Sally, When the Wine Runs Out."

Read our full recap of the Amy Poehler episode.

Oct. 18, 2025: Host Sabrina Carpenter with musical guest Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter hosts 'SNL'.

Sabrina Carpenter returned to *SNL *to do double duty on Oct. 18, marking her first time as host and second appearance as musical guest. Carpenter played a big part in the Emmy-winning *SNL50: The Anniversary Special* earlier this year, including duetting with Paul Simon and taking part in a "Domingo" sketch. This time around, Carpenter teamed up with Marcello Hernandez again to sing with his recurring character.**

The episode was light on cameos and even on cast members after Bowen Yang announced he would miss the show while accepting an award in Los Angeles.

Read our full recap of the Sabrina Carpenter episode.

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Nov. 1 , 2025: Host Miles Teller with musical guest Brandi Carlile

Miles Teller on 'SNL'.

Saturday Night Live/YouTube

*Whiplash* star Miles Teller hosted *SNL* for the second time on Nov. 1. He was joined by Grammy-winning country star Brandi Carlile, returning for her third individual appearance and fourth overall as musical guest.**

Read our full recap of the Miles Teller episode.

Nov. 8, 2025: Host Nikki Glaser with musical guest Sombr

Nikki Glaser on 'SNL'.

Saturday Night Live/YouTube

Comedian Nikki Glaser made her *Saturday Night Live* debut on Nov. 8, ahead of hosting the 2026 Golden Globes. She was accompanied by fellow first-timer, "Back to Friends" singer-songwriter Sombr.

Read our full recap of the Nikki Glaser episode.

Nov. 15, 2025: Host Glen Powell with musical guest Olivia Dean

Glen Powell at New York Comic Con 2025 on Oct. 10, 2025.

Manoli Figetakis/Getty

*Chad Powers *and *The Running Man *star Glen Powell hosted for the first time on Nov. 15. He previously cameoed in season 49 when his* Anyone But You* costar Sydney Sweeney hosted. As he revealed in his monologue, he was originally slated to host years ago to promote *Top Gun: Maverick, *but when the movie's release got bumped so did he. At the time, he took a celebratory picture with a UPS driver named Mitch, who he invited to his eventual hosting debut to prove he wasn't a liar. Powell was also joined by musical guest Olivia Dean, also making her *SNL *debut.**

Read our full recap of the Glen Powell episode.

Dec. 6, 2025: Melissa McCarthy with musical guest Dijon

Melissa McCarthy on 'SNL' in 2017. Will Heath/NBC

Melissa McCarthy returned to host *SNL* for a sixth time on Dec. 6, 2025, joined by musical guest Dijon. It marked her first time hosting since 2017 and first appearance since helping induct Martin Short into the Five-Timers Club on Dec. 21, 2024. The* Can You Ever Forgive Me? *actress has been nominated for an Emmy each time she's hosted the show in the past, winning once. Can she do it again?

Read our full recap of the Melissa McCarthy episode.

Dec. 13, 2025: Host Josh O’Connor with musical guest Lily Allen

Amy Sussman/Getty

Emmy-winning *The* *Crown* and *Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery* star Josh O’Connor will make his hosting debut on Dec. 13, 2025. He'll be joined by musical guest Lily Allen, making her second appearance on *SNL. *(David Harbour, beware!)

Dec. 20 , 2025: Host Ariana Grande with musical guest Cher

Marleen Moise/WireImage

*Wicked: For Good *star Ariana Grande will return for her third turn as *SNL *host on the final episode of the year. Instead of doing double duty this time, Grande will be joined by the legendary Cher. The Oscar winner has made a handful of cameos over the years (the last in 2011), but has not performed as musical guest since 1987.

*Saturday Night Live* airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock.

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Source: “AOL SNL”