Ariana Grande returned to host Saturday Night Live for a third time on Dec. 20, and her appearance doubled as a farewell lap for her Wicked co-star and departing SNL cast member Bowen Yang.
Grande kicked off the show by poking fun at herself, noting that she’d last hosted about a year ago. “So many people have been asking me if I’m going to revisit any of my sketches from last time, like Domingo,” she said. “But I told them, ‘I don’t think so. When something is perfect, it doesn’t need a sequel.’ That’s why I just finished filming Meet the Parents 4.”
Grande did revisit one of her past characters, though: Antonio, the traumatized young castrato. She dressed up as him to introduce the second performance from musical guest Cher. The iconic singer stuck to holiday fare for her first appearance on the show since 1987, singing her 2023 hit “DJ Play a Christmas Song,” and then a cover of Chuck Berry‘s “Run Rudolph Run.”
The rest of Grande’s monologue was a parody of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” with lyrics changed to reflect the difficulty of buying Christmas presents for acquaintances.
Her other sketches included one where she played Macaulay Culkin‘s Home Alone character Kevin McCallister. She also showed off her impersonation skills by singing as both Katy Perry and Celine Dion in a sketch called “Random Holiday Duets Spectacular.“
Grande and Cher came together in the final sketch to bid goodbye to Yang, who played a Delta employee doing his final shift serving eggnog in the airport lounge. Ari played his wife and Cher played his boss, and they sang “Please Come Home for Christmas” together.
“I just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here,” Yang said in character, choking back tears. “And I just wanted to enjoy it for a little bit longer. Especially the people. I’ve loved every single person who works here. Because they’ve done so much for me.”
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