Saturday Night Live reveals cast for new UK version
5 minutes agoSteven McIntoshEntertainment reporter
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKSitcom actors, Taskmaster contestants, Edinburgh Fringe Festival winners and familiar panel show faces are among the stars who will appear on the the British version of Saturday Night Live.
The six-episode series, based on the long-running US variety show, will launch on 21 March, broadcaster Sky has confirmed.
Eleven up-and-coming names from the UK comedy and entertainment circuit will feature on the show, including Emma Sidi, Ania Magliano, Larry Dean, Ayoade Bamgboye and Paddy Young.
Celeste Dring, Annabel Marlow, George Fouracres, Hammed Animashaun, Al Nash and Jack Shep complete the regular weekly cast.
Like the US version, Saturday Night Live UK will feature a celebrity guest host every week, as well as a music star who will perform live.
In a press release, Sky said the show will be “re-imagined through a distinctly British lens”, adding that writers for the series will be announced soon.
Lead producer James Longman said: “The UK is absolutely packed with incredible comedy talent right now and this cast represents the freshest voices we have, they’re bold, exciting and of course, incredibly funny.
“The chemistry between them is something special and we can’t wait to share this funny group of people with the world.”
Saturday Night Live UK will be the first British incarnation of NBC’s late-night comedy showcase, which has been running since 1975.
In keeping with its US counterpart, Saturday Night Live UK will be written and rehearsed in the week of each show, before being performed live in front of a studio audience.
Episodes traditionally feature an opening monologue as well as topical sketches, live music, and a satire of the week’s news called Weekend Update.
Sky said the show’s arrival would end the long wait for UK audiences to hear a new spin on the famous opening line – “Live from London, it’s Saturday Night!”
Here is the Saturday Night UK cast in full, and what they’ve said about joining the show:
Hammed Animashaun
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKHammed Animashaun, from East London, is known for BBC comedy series Black Ops, while his stage credits include the Bridge Theatre’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“I think of myself as an actor first and foremost,” he explained. “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
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKHailing from Lagos and London, Bamgboye is known for her Edinburgh Fringe show Swings and Roundabouts, for which she won the festival’s best newcomper prize, as well as Channel 4 comedy Rise and Shine with Channel 9.
“I was in advertising, and I decided to quit my job and try comedy for a year,” she recalled. “My journey in comedy since then has been such a series of blessings and serendipitous moments.”
Referring to Saturday Night Live, she said: “There’s no better training ground. I’m maybe three, four years into comedy, and it just feels like the perfect place to accelerate my learning.”
Larry Dean
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKBorn in Glasgow, Dean’s stand-up credits include appearances on Live at the Apollo and The Royal Variety Performance 2024.
“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
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKWolverhampton-born Dring is best known for BBC comedies Lazy Susan and This Country, in which she appeared as recurring character Kayleigh Hudson.
“I’d done a lot of more serious plays at uni but I was always a lover of comedy and decided to give it a crack after I left,” she recalled.
“Freya Parker and I started performing as a double act, Lazy Susan, going to Edinburgh Fringe and doing shows there. And from there we got our own radio show and eventually sketch comedy show on TV.”
George Fouracres
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKAnother cast member from Wolverhampton, Fouracres appeared in the recent Netflix drama film Steve, and appeared in a production of Hamlet at Shakespeare’s Globe.
“I’ve been in love with Saturday Night Live since forever,” he recalled. “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.”
Ania Magliano
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKHailing from Buckinghamshire and citing “Ross from Friends” has her comedy hero, Magliano is best known for appearances on Taskmaster and Live At The Apollo.
“I love performing stand-up, but the chance to work collaboratively with other amazing comedians was a huge draw for me,” she said. “And honestly, being part of SNL UK is just incredibly cool.”
Annabel Marlow
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKAnnabel Marlow, whose hometown is Henley- on-Thames, has previously appeared in Six the Musical at the Edinburgh Fringe, and a Leicester Curive production of Muriel’s Wedding.
“I actually have an old fan account from 2016 I used to run on social media that was dedicated to being obsessed with Saturday Night Live,” Marlow revealed. “SNL combines everything I love. I’m excited to create characters and hopefully write some music as well.”
Al Nash
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKHe might have appeared on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, but Buckinghamshire-born Nash jokes that he is also well known for simply being an “Instagram heartthrob”.
“I started the comedy society at the University of Sussex, which birthed a sketch group that I wrote and directed multiple Edinburgh Fringe shows for,” Nash explained. “I then started performing live myself in 2018, and have made online sketches since 2020.”
Jack Shep
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKChannel 4’s Big Boys is among the screen credits for Bedfordshire-born Shep, as well as appearances at comedy night Wanting To Be Cool, Having To Be Funny.
“I’d describe myself as a comic rather than a stand-up comedian,” he reflected. “I do a bit of acting and writing too but basically, I’m always doing stupid [stuff] which I think makes me primed for SNL.”
Emma Sidi
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKBorn in the US but raised in Woking, Sidi is well known for the BBC’s Starstruck, as well as Alan Partridge Live: Stratagem.
“I’ve been doing sketch, character comedy and improv since university,” said Sidi, who recently toured a show that saw her play former civil servant Sue Gray.
“That show was a real manifesto of my taste,” she said, “a bit left-field and very cheeky.”
Paddy Young
Charlotte Rutherford/SNL UKYoung, from Scarborough, is known for appearances in Channel 4 series Everyone Else Burns and Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping.
“Saturday Night Live UK feels like the most exciting thing that’s happened in comedy in this country for a long time, even more than Reels,” he joked, referring to Instagram’s short-form videos.
“The scale of it is quackers: 11 in the cast, 18 writers, and the catering is world class.”