Nothing Like It! Lindsay Lohan, More Stars Remember ‘SNL’ Hosting Debuts

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Stars Get Real About Their ‘Saturday Night Live’ Hosting Debuts: Kim Kardashian, Simu Liu and More

Fulfilling a dream! Saturday Night Live’s stage has played host to icons from Harry Styles to Betty White, and many of its celebrity guests have gushed over reaching the impressive career milestone.

“I can’t believe I am hosting Saturday Night Live. I’m not sure many of you know that I’m 88 and a half years old,” the late Golden Girls alum said during her monologue in May 2010. “It’s great to be here for a number of reasons. You know, I’m not new to live TV. In 1952, I starred in my first live sitcom, which was Life of Elizabeth, and of course, back then we didn’t want to do it live, we just didn’t know how to tape things. So, I don’t know what this show’s excuse is.”

White’s hosting debut on the late-night series was the result of a viral Facebook campaign, which she made sure to honor during her opening, adding: “I have so many people to thank for being here but I really have to thank Facebook. When I first heard about the campaign to get me to host Saturday Night Live, I didn’t know what Facebook was. And now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.”

The Proposal star passed away in December 2021, but she was hardly the only first-time SNL host to enjoy her experience. Kim Kardashian, for her part, made headlines in October 2021 when she poked fun at several of her sisters and roasted the likes of her estranged husband, Kanye West, stepparent Caitlyn Jenner, ex-NFL player O.J. Simpson and mom Kris Jenner’s boyfriend, Corey Gamble.

“OMFG no turning back now!!!! LOL,” the Skims founder tweeted shortly after her season 47 hosting gig was announced, alongside a screenshot of the cast list. “I’m hosting SNL!!!!!!”

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During the October 2021 episode, the KKW Beauty founder — who connected with cast member Pete Davidson during the taping — even joked about people who criticized the casting choice.

“I’m Kim Kardashian West and it’s so great to be here tonight,” the Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum began her opening monologue at the time. “I know, I’m surprised to see me here too.”

Other first-time hosts used their monologues to gush over their experiences as SNL viewers or as featured players.

“My last show was in 2013 and, since then, I have had two amazing children [with ex Olivia Wilde]: Otis and Daisy,” Jason Sudeikis, who was a part of the cast from 2006 to 2013, said at the start of his October 2021 show. “It’s fun to come back and be the veteran, you know? Different folks asking me for advice. Like, ‘I love working here, but what should I do next?’ Or, ‘How do I get Lorne [Michaels] to notice me?’ Stuff like that. And honestly, I found myself giving the same advice to every single person. I was just like, ‘Win an Emmy, and if you can, win two.’ That’s the best way to do it. It sets you up for success, I’ve found.”

The Ted Lasso star concluded at the time: “This place changed my life twice. Once as a cast member, as a writer here, but most importantly, as a kid watching from home. There’s a good chance that if you’re watching tonight, there’s probably something from this place that changed your life, too.”

Keep scrolling to see what the stars have thought about their SNL hosting debuts:

Credit: Will Heath/NBC

Keke Palmer

The Nope actress hosted the December 3, 2022, episode of SNL, where she revealed that she was expecting her first child with boyfriend Darius Jackson.

“I had such an amazing time hosting SNL! Truly such a unique experience, I learned so much. The cast was incredible, I was so happy to be taken into their home for such a short time,” Palmer wrote via one day later. “Being around so many others that appreciate and put their all into their craft was especially fulfilling. I love to [perform] so much. I love bringing laughter and good vibes and just taking us all away for a moment.”

She added: “This year has taken me for a ride! And how cool, my baby and I are already doing it all together. Thank you God! Thank you to my amazing parents and family who continuously support me.”

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Lindsay Lohan

The Parent Trap star made her SNL debut in 2013.

“I think it’s important to not take yourself too seriously,” Lohan told Cosmopolitan in November 2022. “You have to enjoy the fun sides of things, and I also think it’s so much to poke fun at yourself and just be humble. … That’s why one of my favorite things to do was Saturday Night Live because it’s the best opportunity to, like, rip yourself apart and it’s great! I’m all about that.”

Credit: Will Heath/NBC

Ariana DeBose

“#Tbt Quality @snl BTS content,” the West Side Story star shared via Instagram in January 2022, days after her hosting gig. “I said I wanted to challenge myself & the universe delivered. 1st vid is a 1am moment. Last vid entrance realness. 😍.”

Credit: Rosalind O’Connor/NBC

Kim Kardashian

“Hosting Saturday Night Live was probably one of the best experiences of my career! The amount of work that the entire @nbcsnl team puts in to make a show like this even possible is unmatched,” the Selfish author gushed via an October 2021 Instagram post. “I’m forever grateful for this experience and to everyone that supported me and worked so hard to make this all possible!”

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Simu Liu

Fresh off his MCU debut as Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the Canada native was grateful for the experience to step onto the studio 8H stage.

“It was over so fast it was like a dream,” Liu wrote via Instagram in November 2021. “I mean maybe not one of those dreams that you wake up feeling particularly well-rested. More like an awesome dream where you’re flying and shooting laser beams out of your hands and shit, beating the crap out of alien invaders, and then the President of Earth gives you a Medal of Valor and Cate Blanchett calls you up and is like ‘what’s up?’ And right when you’re about to meet Cate Blanchett for coffee you wake up suddenly because there’s construction outside your building and you scream, ‘NOOOooOOOO’ because you desperately want to be back in that dream.”

He added at the time: “Yeah that was Saturday Night Live. Thanks, Lorne, Lindsay, and all the cast and crew. Let’s do it again sometime.”

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Jason Bateman

During the Ozark star’s second turn as host in December 2020, he couldn’t resist looking back on making his debut several years earlier and working with a particularly feisty monkey.

“Something kind of weird happened last time I hosted,” Bateman recalled of his 2005 episode. “I was in a sketch called ‘Monkeys Throwing Poop at Celebrities,’ and it naturally had a monkey in it. … We’re all hugging [and] saying goodnight, the credits are rolling and the monkey tried to kill me. I bent down to say ‘good job’ to the monkey, [to] be a nice fella — but not the chimp. The chimp unhinges his jaw, he flashes the teeth and he tries to bite my entire nose off.”

He continued: “It didn’t look like much, but I had the horror angle. … It was terrifying, however, I am smiling but inside, ‘I’m thinking a monkey just attacked me and nobody cares.’”

Credit: Will Heath/NBC

Billie Eilish

“The week preparing for SNL is f—king nuts. It’s literally alien,” the “Bad Guy” songstress told Howard Stern during a December 2021 interview on his radio show. “I mean, I cried every single day of the week, no joke at all. I did actually love to act when I was a kid, but that’s not my world so I don’t know what the f—k I’m doing. I feel like I’m terrible, I feel like I suck. … I was just scared. It’s SNL. It’s these amazing, talented actors surrounding a table where somehow I’m the main course for this show I didn’t feel qualified for.”

Credit: Will Heath/NBC

Jason Sudeikis

“It’s fun to come back and be the veteran, you know? Different folks asking me for advice. Like, ‘I love working here, but what should I do next?’ Or, ‘How do I get Lorne to notice me?’ Stuff like that,” the former SNL cast member dished about his experience coming back to host in his October 2021 monologue.

Credit: Rosalind O’Connor/NBC

Taylor Swift

“Right now, it’s actually quiet. I was here last year, and I was the musical guest. It was colder in here, and there were a million people running around, scurrying around doing different things,” the Grammy winner told CMT in November 2009 ahead of her hosting debut. “Today, it’s quiet, so everybody is writing and imagining. … I want to look nothing like myself. I told all the writers, ‘Don’t count anything out. I want to completely go 100 percent in this.’ I really, really don’t want to be only halfway involved just because I have a lot of things to do as far as being musical guest and host.”

Credit: NBC

Betty White

White hosted an episode in May 2010 after a viral Facebook campaign recommended her for the gig. Then 88, she made history as the oldest host on record.