{"id":894630,"date":"2026-10-25T23:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T23:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894630\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T23:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T23:10:17","slug":"inside-snl-uk-season-2-finale-with-cynthia-erivo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894630\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside ‘SNL UK’: Season 2 Finale With Cynthia Erivo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Hollywood Reporter was gifted one of London\u2019s hottest tickets on Saturday night: a seat at the season two finale of SNL UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the city\u2019s Television Centre, it is a behemoth operation. Hundreds of people eat, sleep, and breathe this show for the entirety of its two-month run. Entering the building is not unlike being back at university \u2014 the food hall is bustling, people nervously hug one another, and the sound of a live band rehearsing floats through the walls. Unlike university, security here is almost uncomfortably overbearing. A jittery energy \u2014\u00a0and distinct buzz \u2014\u00a0percolates. It\u2019s 9 p.m. The countdown to showtime is on, and this team still has something to prove.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Sky<\/a> spinoff of Lorne Michaels\u2019 long-running NBC sketch show boasted solid viewership numbers<\/a> in its first installment earlier this year, led by SNL hall-of-famer Tina Fey. Her inaugural episode notched up over 220,000 viewers in Britain, and despite the sharp drop toward the end of the season \u2014 Ncuti Gatwa\u2019s closer, up against the Eurovision Song Contest, ended on a series low of 86,420 \u2014 critic response was generally fairly warm.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeason two was ushered in by another Hollywood star. Jeff Goldblum, with musical guest CMAT by his side, attracted an overnight audience of 105,000 on Sep. 9. From there, the series again leaned into some of the more niche British names, with Jamie Demetriou, Amelia Dimoldenberg, Danny Dyer and James Norton taking on hosting duties in the next four episodes. Demetriou and Dimoldenberg, as well as Gatwa, Ike Barinholtz and Lizzy Caplan, are among the high-profile names spotted in the audience at the finale, where Wicked star Cynthia Erivo<\/a> takes to the stage. (A member of the hair and makeup team names Erivo a standout host on our way to set. She\u2019s proven popular with the cast and crew.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cast remains a group of some of the U.K.\u2019s brightest comedy talents: Hammed Animashaun, Al Nash, Ayoade Bamgboye, Larry Dean, Celeste Dring, George Fouracres, Annabel Marlow, Jack Shep, and Emma Sidi all returned for season two. Weekend Update presenters Ania Magliano and Paddy Young saw particular breakout success, and both of them scored sold-out runs for their solo comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. It\u2019s just the one newcomer this season \u2014\u00a0Such Brave Girls star Freddie Meredith, who appears in Saturday\u2019s episode as Prince William on The Graham Norton Show. (\u201cIs it true that your brother Harry has reached out this week?\u201d says a bearded Shep, wielding an Irish accent. \u201cShut up!\u201d replies Meredith, prompting laughter with William\u2019s signature, teeth-bearing grin.)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJack Shep as Graham Norton, Freddie Meredith as Prince William on SNL UK<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSky\/Eva Pentel\/Matt Crockett<\/p>\n

\n\tWith two seasons officially under its belt, SNL UK naysayers continue to ask: Can this very American format make Brits laugh? The answer is yes. This cast, steadfast in its commitment to appealing to a very British sensibility, sticks to jokes that probably have Barinholtz and Caplan a little stumped. Think Noel Fielding\u2019s odd posture on The Great British Bake Off, a Walthamstow wedding crashed by a rapper who can\u2019t bury her beef with Thames Water, and a princess trapped in a tower throwing a can of Lilt at her rescuer: The target audience here is deliberately specific.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe live recording seats an audience of 275. The cast and writers bring 30-40 sketches to the read-through at the beginning of each week. This is cut down to just six or seven by Saturday\u2019s 6 p.m. dress rehearsal, a mere four hours before they go live. At the dress, THR is told, as many creases as possible are ironed out \u2014\u00a0if a cue card needs to be positioned just a centimetre further to the left, it\u2019s caught here.<\/p>\n

\n\tSNL UK feels more like a party than a TV set. There are the bright lights, the cameras, the glaring \u201cAPPLAUSE\u201d sign lofted above us attendees in the bleachers, but cast members are keen to warm up the crowd. They\u2019re comedians, after all. That particular task includes an impromptu duet from Animashaun and Nash, who get up on stage \u2014\u00a0designed to resemble a smoky, basement comedy club in Soho \u2014\u00a0and serenade this very game audience. We\u2019re encouraged to cheer, dance and soak up the thrill of watching live TV in action.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter a cold open in which Fouracres\u2019 Andy Burnham sits for his Celebrity Gogglebox appearance and Dring\u2019s Claudia Winkleman takes a dig at the dullness of this season\u2019s Celebrity Traitors, Erivo begins her opening monologue by poking fun at herself. She is not as serious as audiences have assumed from the famously intense Wicked press tour, Erivo tells us. This statement is accompanied by a slideshow of her deadpan face photoshopped onto a skydiver. \u201cI love the feeling of the wind through my\u2026 nails,\u201d she says. The nails become a topic of discussion, in fact: \u201cTo me, they\u2019re normal. I\u2019ve had them since I was 16,\u201d she adds. \u201cThey\u2019re an extension of my body, an expression of my soul, and surprisingly practical. I haven\u2019t had to use cutlery in years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe aforementioned Bake Off pops up again in Erivo\u2019s monologue. \u201cIt would be chaos,\u201d she continues about appearing on the show with those razor-sharp nails. \u201cMaking cake batter with one nail, chopping my butter with the other. Noel\u2019s telling me I\u2019ve got 30 seconds left, and Alison [Hammond] just keeps laughing. It\u2019s not funny, Hammond. Seriously, what are you laughing at? I\u2019ve got a soggy bottom, and I\u2019m freaking stressed!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd so ensues a string of sketches that showcase Erivo\u2019s comedic talents. She plays a secret hitwoman who attempts to clear out an awkward B&B breakfast room by feigning a passion for birds \u2014\u00a0and bird noises. In another, titled \u201cModern Music,\u201d she and Marlow riff on, erm, how female rappers talk about their own bodies: \u201cIt\u2019s gorgeous, stunning, clever and it\u2019s somehow always clean,\u201d sings Erivo. \u201cIt sings just like an angel, it shines just like the sun, it doesn\u2019t really take much if you want to make me\u2026 dance.\u201d Marlow isn\u2019t so confident about her own body. \u201cIt\u2019s not that mine\u2019s bad, I just don\u2019t know what a good one is!\u201d she raps.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the show-stealer was undoubtedly the Nollywood, sapphic take on Erivo\u2019s breakout role. In \u201cNigerian Wicked,\u201d she plays Glinda to Bamgboye\u2019s Elphaba. Shoddy visual effects and melodramatic narration (\u201cGlinda doesn\u2019t like egg, so their relationship is very strained\u201d) had the audience in fits of laughter. They look as though they might just kiss, but soon journey on the Yellow Brick Road to find the Wizard of LagOz (Animashaun). Glinda promises Elphaba he\u2019ll give her the \u201cgravity-defying\u201d BBL of her dreams, but when they finally meet the Wizard, they find he\u2019s broke. \u201cThat\u2019s a nolex!\u201d says a disgusted Erivo. The credits roll, and the actress uses her full name: Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Owezuke Amarachukwu Echimino Erivo.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe SNL UK social team is clearly well aware of where much of the show\u2019s audience lives in the content economy \u2014 \u201cNigerian Wicked\u201ds YouTube clip has already hit one million views in less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n

\n\tMagliano and Young\u2019s Weekend Update featured more of the brutal, satirical one-liners that have made the sequence a far-and-away fan favorite. \u201cIt\u2019s been a big 24 hours for Meghan Markle,\u201d Young begins, \u201cwhose dad has been accused of being an alleged pedophile<\/a> in another pathetic attempt to win over the British public.\u201d Other highlights include Young\u2019s try-out for James Bond and an appearance from Shep\u2019s heavily accented, moustached character Scrimpch.<\/p>\n

\n\tThroughout the show, those of us in the bleachers are given a near-perfect view of the size of the operation. Around five or six different sets surround the entire crew, who swivel and reposition between four-minute ad breaks (which are punctuated by some brilliant live jazz music to keep the crowd alive). Musical guest Blossoms are given two slots across the show and are seemingly completely relaxed on stage. The cast members, if not running to de-wig and get into their next costume, can be seen dancing, waving and greeting others buried in that centre-stage circus. When the finale finishes, Erivo is giddy. The cameras cut, and she continues hugging every single cast member, whom she\u2019s evidently formed a real bond with this week. The afterparty beckons.<\/p>\n

\n\tSNL UK season three is slated for release in January. Maybe it\u2019s just the room\u2019s infectious energy talking, but with a show this slick and a cast so obviously at home here, this series might just have finally found its groove.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hollywood Reporter was gifted one of London\u2019s hottest tickets on Saturday night: a seat at the season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[106479,88,2091,241000,10265,240058,92,1049],"class_list":["post-894630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-cynthia-erivo","tag-entertainment","tag-international","tag-saturday-night-live-uk","tag-sky","tag-snl-uk","tag-tv","tag-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}