Ariana Grande to Host ‘Saturday Night Live’ for Third Time, with Cher as Musical Guest

Ariana Grande will return to the Saturday Night Live stage as host for the third time, the program announced on Monday, November 17, 2025. Her upcoming episode is scheduled to air on December 20, 2025.

Unlike her debut hosting stint in 2016 — when she also served as the musical guest — Grande’s December appearance will feature Cher as the episode’s musical performer.

The weeks leading up to Grande’s episode are stacked with notable guests. Melissa McCarthy is set to host the December 6, 2025 episode, with Dijon appearing as the musical guest. The following week, December 13, 2025, Josh O’Connor is slated to host while Lily Allen will take the musical slot; Allen is arriving fresh off the release of her acclaimed album West End Girl and hasn’t performed on the show since 2007.

This season has already delivered a diverse slate of performers and hosts: Olivia Dean recently supplied the music for an episode hosted by Glen Powell, Sombr made his SNL musical debut on Nikki Glaser’s episode, and Sabrina Carpenter appeared as both host and musical guest in a prior week.

Grande’s third turn as host echoes the promotional momentum surrounding last year’s Wicked premiere — a period that produced several memorable sketches — and comes nearly one month after Wicked: For Good was released globally on November 21, 2025.

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