Legendary Saturday Night Live comedian Kate McKinnon opened up about her uncomfortable medical diagnosis in a September 6, 2025, interview.
“It’s called geographic tongue,” the 41-year-old Barbie actress told PEOPLE. “Your tongue sheds in patches and looks like an atlas, hence the name ‘geographic tongue’… It’s gross… Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this in a magazine.”
The admission came after she was asked to reveal the last photo on her phone. “I took a photo of my tongue and sent it to an actor friend of mine. We both have the same medical condition,” she explained with her signature humor. “We brag about how geographic we are on any given day.”
“It’s gross… Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this in a magazine.”
– Kate McKinnon
Mayo Clinic describes the condition as “inflammatory but harmless,” explaining that it can “cause tongue pain and make you more sensitive to certain foods, such as spices, salt, and even sweets.”
McKinnon has been sharing a lot of secrets lately. On September 2, she chatted exclusively with Parade about her surprising relationship – or lack thereof – with costar Andy Samburg on the SNL set.
“I was too scared to talk to him, even though he’s the nicest man in the world,” she revealed amid the release of their new film, The Roses. “I just was intimidated, and I didn’t know what to say. I felt I had nothing to contribute, and that was true. [Samberg laughs.] But you were so nice to me, and it was great.”
The duo’s time on the comedy staple only overlapped by a few weeks. McKinnon began her SNL journey on April 7, 2012, and Samburg ended his tenure on May 19. Still, McKinnon made an impact on Samburg.
“I remember us all watching that year’s auditions, and everyone who already worked at the show freaking out about Kate and going, ‘Holy crap, we have to hire her. Please tell me that Lorne [Michaels] is gonna hire her,’” he shared. “And then he did, and it was wonderful, and I have nothing but fun, happy memories of us chatting and being in skits together. Since then, we bump into each other here and there all the time because we’re just comedy folk.”
The Roses is in theaters now.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 6, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.