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

Ariana Grande is set to return to Saturday Night Live for her third time as host. The sketch comedy show announced on Monday (Nov. 17) that the pop superstar will soon step back into Studio 8H to take the lead again.

Her upcoming episode airs on Dec. 20. It arrives a little more than a year after the Wicked actress last hosted SNL. This time, Grande will not be performing her own music as she did during her hosting debut in 2016. Instead, Cher will take the stage as the night’s musical guest.

The two episodes before Grande’s return are also packed with star power. Melissa McCarthy will host on Dec. 6 with Dijon appearing as the musical guest. The following week features Josh O’Connor as host and Lily Allen performing. Allen is fresh off the release of her acclaimed album West End Girl. Her last appearance on SNL was in 2007.

This lineup continues an already strong season. Olivia Dean performed on the most recent episode with Glen Powell hosting. Earlier in the season, Sombr made his musical guest debut during an episode hosted by Nikki Glaser, and Sabrina Carpenter handled both hosting and performing the week before.

Grande’s third turn as host arrives during another major promotional moment. Last year, she appeared on the show ahead of the premiere of Wicked and delivered several standout sketches, including the popular “Domingo” wedding scene and “Castratti”. Her new episode will air almost exactly one month after Wicked: For Good hits theaters worldwide on Nov. 21.