Saturday Night Live is one of America’s most successful comedy formats, having launched countless huge stars in the US – Tina Fey! Eddie Murphy! Adam Sandler! – and at last, a UK edition is coming to our screens on 21 March, with British performers on this side of the pond hoping to emulate that same trajectory.
The UK version will retain everything viewers know and love about the Stateside original, with celebrity hosts and musical guests stopping by for late-night laughs in the all-new London studio.
On air since 1975, the US series is the unofficial training ground for Hollywood’s funniest comedians and actors, and SNL is responsible for catapulting plenty of much-loved stars into the spotlight. Murphy was a cast member in the early Eighties, before landing his breakout film role in Beverly Hills Cop, while Sandler and Will Ferrell got their starts on SNL in the nineties.
Pals Fey and Amy Poehler also enjoyed overlapping stints on the show in the early 2000s – with Fey becoming the programme’s first female head writer. The pair would go on to create 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation, respectively. We also have SNL to thank for introducing us to Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg.
SNL UK’s initial six-week run will see 11 new players bringing the laughs in topical sketches, and a British version of the popular satirical news segment Weekend Update.
Meet them below…
Hammed Animashaun
Londoner Hammed Animashaun will be familiar to fans of Black Ops, thanks to his star turn as undercover policeman Kay in the BBC comedy.
Hinting at what we can expect from him on SNL UK, Animashaun said: “I think of myself as an actor first and foremost. I’ve done a lot of theatre. That’s my first love so I feel very much at home on the stage and performing live.
“Transferring that experience over to live comedy is something I’m really excited for.”
Ayoade Bamgboye
British and Nigerian comedian Ayoade Bamgboye is just four years into her comedy career, and pivoted to the entertainment industry by quitting her advertising job to give stand-up a go.
She’s already made her mark on stage and last year won the prestigious Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, following her festival debut with Swings and Roundabouts.
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Declaring that there’s “no better training ground” than SNL UK, Bamgboye said: “It just feels like the perfect place to accelerate my learning. Having a steep learning curve like this gives me so much bandwidth to try many different things in a short space of time.”
Larry Dean
Glasgow-based comedian has popped on TV before, with appearances on Live at the Apollo and The Royal Variety Performance 2024, as well as ITV’s 2019 series The Stand Up Sketch Show.
“There have been so many people who have appeared on Saturday Night Live, either as hosts or part of the cast, that are my comedy heroes like Jim Carrey, Richard Pryor, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey,” he said. “It’s always been my dream to do acting and stand-up, so this is exactly what I want to be doing.”
Celeste Dring
Hailing from Wolverhampton, Celeste Dring is one of the SNL UK cast members with the most TV experience, thanks to roles in This Country, the BBC’s 2018 series Wanderlust and Channel 4’s The Windsors sitcom, in which she played Princess Eugenie.
She also performs as part of the double act Lazy Susan with fellow comedian Freya Parker, and the pair landed their own BBC pilot back in 2019.
When asked why she wanted to be part of the SNL UK cast, Dring said: “It was a no-brainer really. I just love the idea of being creative with a group of brilliantly talented and funny people and the chance to do something new.”
George Fouracres
Also from Wolverhampton, George Fouracres describes SNL as his “dream job”. “My favourite thing is playing lots of very intense, insane characters, and I love the glamour of late night live TV,” he said. “Seeing clips of SNL in the US I always thought ‘I wish we had that. Why don’t we have something like that?’ So the fact that we do now, and I get to be part of it, blows my tiny mind.”
Fouracres’ background is mainly in theatre. He’s an associate artist at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, and performed in his seventh show at the historic venue last year.
“I started in the industry acting and writing in a sketch group called Daphne with my friends Jason Forbes and Phil Wang,” he added. Fouracres masterminded his first and only stand-up show in 2019 and more recently, performed in comedy duo Flo & Joan’s award-winning show One Man Musical in the UK and Australia.
Ania Magliano
One of SNL UK’s best-known stars, Buckinghamshire-born Ania Magliano has brought the laughs on Live at the Apollo and series 20 of Taskmaster UK, going up against Maisie Adams, Phil Ellis, Reece Shearsmith, and Sanjeev Bhaskar.
“I did my first gig when I was 18, so it’s pretty surreal that it’s been nearly 10 years now,” she said. “Since then, I’ve performed sold-out tours, filmed a stand-up special, and taken shows to Edinburgh. It’s through stand-up that I really found my voice.”
Annabel Marlow
Musician and comedian Annabel Marlow has been a devoted SNL stan for years and even used to run an online fan account dedicated to “being obsessed” with the show. “SNL combines everything I love,” she explained. “I’m excited to create characters and hopefully write some music as well.”
“I wrote and performed a one-woman show at Edinburgh Fringe in 2023 called Is This Okay??, that was an hour of comedy songs and pop songs, with bits of stand-up,” she said.
Marlow also has some impressive theatre roles on her CV, having originated the role of Katherine Howard in Six the Musical, and appeared in productions of The Wizard of Oz and Muriel’s Wedding.
Al Nash
You won’t recognise Al Nash from TV but you may well know him from social media. The Buckinghamshire-born comedian has built up huge fanbases on TikTok and Instagram thanks to his sketches and satirical send-ups of popular trends.
“As someone who is sketch comedy obsessed, I’m just so happy to be a part of the [SNL UK] cast,” he said. “I think it’s a really exciting opportunity for the UK comedy industry in general.”
Jack Shep
Jack Shep has just a few TV credits to his name – but they’re all pretty impressive shows. As well as popping up in Jack Rooke’s Channel 4 series Big Boys, Shep appeared in Netflix’s One Day adaptation and Alan Carr’s semi-autobiographical Changing Ends.
“I’d describe myself as a comic rather than a stand-up comedian,” the Bedfordshire-born star said. “I do a bit of acting and writing too but basically, I’m always doing stupid s*** which I think makes me primed for SNL.”
Emma Sidi
Emma Sidi has already crossed paths with at least one of her new SNL UK co-stars, thanks to a brief appearance in the BBC’s Black Ops.
You might also recognise her from Starstruck, thanks to her star turn as Kate, the highly strung flatmate and best pal of Rose Matafeo’s Jessie (the pair also lived together in real life). Or perhaps you spotted Sidi in season two of Stath Lets Flats, or in the first episode of Industry.
“I love comedy and character comedy especially, and I think there isn’t that much character comedy on TV in the UK right now,” she said. “My favourite comedies to watch growing up were French & Saunders, The Fast Show, Reeves and Mortimer, all those pioneering shows from the alt-comedy scene.
“Saturday Night Live is a huge opportunity to get that kind of comedy back on TV and online.”
Paddy Young
Scarborough-born Paddy Young has already worked with a number of British comedy greats, popping up in Channel 4’s Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping and the 2023 series Everyone Else Burns, starring The Inbetweeners’ Simon Bird.
“I was very lucky because Scarborough had an amazing theatre – the Stephen Joseph Theatre – which I practically grew up in,” he said. “I was completely obsessed with comedy but had no idea how to do it. By the time I went to drama school in Manchester I found myself constantly sneaking away to watch stand-up, though it took me a long time to actually do it.”
Saturday Night Live UK comes to Sky and streaming service NOW on 21 March.