‘SNL’ Returns January 15 With Ariana DeBose As Host & Roddy Ricch As Musical Guest

Saturday Night Live is ringing in the new year with a freshman pair.

The NBC late-night comedy variety show returns on January 15 with West Side Story star Ariana DeBose making her SNL debut as host with Live Life Fast pop star Roddy Ricch set as musical guest.

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DeBose will be well known to creator Lorne Michaels as she plays Emma in Apple’s Michaels-exec produced comedy series Schmigadoon!

It will be the first show of 2022 for SNL and comes after the show rallied impressively for its Covid-hit final episode of 2021, a show that featured only Kenan Thompson and Michael Che from its regular cast as well as special guests Tina Fey and Tom Hanks.

Deadline understands that the plan for the January 15 show is to be back with a full cast and crew as well as studio audience, but obviously given the spread of the Omicron Covid variant, a decision will be made closer to the time.

The show will also be streamed live via Peacock with the remainder of season 47 also airing live on the streaming service at 11:30pm ET.

Similarly, it marks the first shows without a number of SNL staffers. Head writer Anna Drezen left the show at the end of the year to focus on her Freeform animated comedy series Praise Petey, while director Don Roy King retired with Liz Patrick taking over.

Saturday Night Live is produced in association with Broadway Video.

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