The comedian, who used to star on 'Saturday Night Live', is set to make his hosting debut when the season 49 premieres on October 14, with Ice Spice serving as the musical guest.
- Oct 5, 2023
AceShowbiz - Now that the WGA strike has ended, "Saturday Night Live" is gearing up for a return. On Wednesday, October 3, the long-running NBC comedy show announced Pete Davidson and Bad Bunny as the hosts for the first two episodes of season 49.
Pete, who starred on "SNL" between 2014 to 2022, is set to make his hosting debut when the new season premieres on October 14. "The King of Staten Island" actor will be joined by Ice Spice, who will serve as the musical guest.
Pete was initially set to host a May 6 episode, though the plan was scrapped as the Writers Guild of America began its strike, halting production from coast to coast, earlier that month. In response to the cancellation, the "Bupkis" star said during his appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon", "Lorne [Michaels] told me [about hosting] a couple months ago but then this week, as you know, a writers' strike might happen."
"So I've been working on this for like, two, three months and they're like, 'Yeah, well. We'll know Monday if it's happening or not,' " he continued, before joking, "It just sucks because it feeds my weird story I have in my head like, 'Of course that would happen to me.' "
Following the comic's return to Studio 8H, Bad Bunny is scheduled to pull double duty, hosting and performing in the October 21 episode. The Grammy-winning musician previously performed on the show back in February 2021.
"SNL" made the announcement of the hosts and musical guests on its social media accounts. In addition, the sketch series revealed that Chloe Troast had joined the cast as a featured player.
Michael Che, Colin Jost, Bowen Yang, Mikey Day, Andrew Dismukes and Chloe Fineman will return for the new season. They will be joined by Heidi Gardner, Punkie Johnson, Ego Nwodim and Kenan Thompson.
While SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing, the show is able to return because it falls under the union's Network Code. "SAG-AFTRA members appearing on Saturday Night Live either as hosts, guests, or cast members are working under the Network Code agreement, which is not a contract we are striking. They are not in violation of SAG-AFTRA strike rules, and we support them in fulfilling their contractual obligations," the union said in a statement.
