Ariana Grande returned to host Saturday Night Live on December 20, spoofing Mariah Carey's holiday hit in her monologue and appearing in various sketches. Cher made a rare appearance as musical guest, performing tracks from her 2023 Christmas album. The episode marked the show's final broadcast of 2025.
Ariana Grande hosted Saturday Night Live for her third time on December 20, the final episode of 2025, at Studio 8H in New York. In her opening monologue, the 32-year-old singer parodied Mariah Carey's 1994 classic 'All I Want for Christmas Is You,' which recently achieved a record 20 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Grande sang about holiday shopping woes, including lines like, 'I don’t know what to get for Christmas for my cousin’s boyfriend Steve / I don’t know a thing about him, only see him on Christmas Eve.' She also joked about her demanding press tour for Wicked: For Good, quipping, 'Had so much press for Wicked, Jon Chu will not let me pee.' Joined by cast members including Bowen Yang—who is departing midway through his eighth season—Kenan Thompson, Sarah Sherman, Chloe Fineman, Veronika Slowikowska, Marcello Hernandez, and Ashley Padilla, Grande transitioned into sketches portraying an Elf on the Shelf, a dance instructor, and Macaulay Culkin’s character from Home Alone in a gory parody.
The 'Random Duet Christmas Spectacular' sketch drew inspiration from David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s 1977 duet of 'Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy.' Grande impersonated Katy Perry and Celine Dion, while cast members played Bob Dylan, Kate Bush, Yoko Ono, Björk, and Geese frontman Cameron Winter.
Cher, 79, performed as the musical guest for the first time since 1987, delivering two songs from her 2023 album Christmas. Flanked by backup dancers, she opened with the original 'DJ Play a Christmas Song,' followed by a cover of Chuck Berry’s 1958 track 'Run Rudolph Run.' The album features guests like Stevie Wonder, Michael Bublé, Tyga, Cyndi Lauper, and a duet with Darlene Love on 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).' Cher previously told Billboard, 'They’re not “Christmas-Christmas” songs, OK? ... I love the songs and everyone who hears them loves them.' Recently, she won a legal battle over royalties for Sonny & Cher hits like 'I Got You Babe' and was named a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, her first nomination dating back 60 years.
Grande, nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2025 Oscars for Glinda in Wicked, continues promoting the film alongside co-star Cynthia Erivo.
