SNL Stars Who Dated Celeb Hosts
Given the hectic and packed itinerary "Saturday Night Live" endures every week, it's a wonder anyone involved with the show has time for socializing (per The Hustle). Still, after nearly 50 years, a few cast members have managed to kindle relationships, such as the short-lived liaison between original players Bill Murray and Gilda Radner during the '70s (per Vanity Fair). But those unions have been rare compared to the show's regular performers' tendency to romantically gravitate towards the celebrity guest hosts.
Lately, recent SNL expat Pete Davidson has regularly scored headlines concerning hookups with guests, as well as other luminaries who never saw the inside of the sketch-com's 30 Rockefeller Center digs. Relatively under the radar has been the quiet union of SNL's Weekend Update bingo caller Colin Jost and his better-known other half Scarlett Johansson, who have been married since 2020.
Sadly, even if these linkups triggered amorous sparks in New York where SNL is based, most of them end up like most Hollywood romances — not well at all. Of the 12 couples mentioned here, only three of them are still together. No matter the case, expect the celebrity-obsessed among us staying tuned to find out what happens next.
Pete Davidson couldn't keep up with a Kardashian
Pete Davidson was only 20 and the youngest person in the "Saturday Night Live" lineup when he joined the show in 2014. But that awkward kid from Staten Island grew up quickly, gravitating from ribald Weekend Update cameos to a frequent sketch player. As his profile grew, so did all the media clippings surrounding his extracurricular dalliances with A-list amours, with the biggest hookup with Kim Kardashian taking the tabloid world by storm.
In October 2022, viewers had a ringside seat to that germination when SNL featured Kardashian as a guest host. Anticipation grew when Davidson and Kardashian were paired in an "Aladdin" sketch that climaxed with a lengthy lip lock between the two. Several months later, after the two were seen together at a Staten Island restaurant and in Palm Springs and even Barbados, Davidson let it slip to People that he had a girlfriend — deductive reasoning narrowed it down to Kim. "It might be hard to get, like Dunkin' Donuts, but other than that, it's pretty fine," said Davidson about the relationship. "It's not awful, like it could be way worse."
Someone who wasn't going to make that tandem easy was Kanye West, Kardashian's ex, who posted on social media his displeasure over the romance (per Buzzfeed News). But the whirlwind coupling ended abruptly after nine months, with unidentified source telling People that conflicting schedules were to blame for the amicable split.
Pete Davidson had a Grande time while it lasted
When Pete Davidson joined "Saturday Night Live" in 2014, he was what cohort Michael Che called the show's "resident young person." It wasn't long before the so-called youngster started to grow larger spurs, however, when his first public hookup was two years later with Cazzie David, daughter of comedian and show producer Larry David (per HuffPost). It's hard to speculate in the meantime what type of rapport Davidson had with singer Ariana Grande, who appeared on SNL in 2014 and 2016. Suffice to say that by the spring of 2018, he inexplicably dropped Cazzie and was hanging with Grande days later (per TMZ).
That the two were an item raised Davidson's social stock overnight, as he was seen with the chanteuse at the Billboard Awards and spending Memorial Day weekend together. Within a month of hooking up, Davidson received a neck tattoo commemorating his relationship, and the two were engaged. But by September, trouble in paradise ensued when Grande found out her former boyfriend Mac Miller died from a drug overdose.
That's when she reportedly took time off to recuperate from the news and in the process, dropped Davidson a month later (per People). Interestingly, those breakups haven't been devastating enough for Davidson to continue seeing other celebrities, from Margaret Qualley to Kate Beckinsale. According to ET, Davidson has three things going for him: his sense of humor, an innate sweetness, and something anatomically too graphic to emphasize here.
Colin Jost was swept up in a case of Scarlett fever
When Scarlett Johannson first hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 2006, she was already a lead actress in heavy demand, thanks to lead roles in outings like "The Black Dahlia" and "The Prestige" while Harvard grad Colin Jost was a rookie writer on the show. Still, Jost recalled he must have cast some auspicious impression on the celeb. ""She claims that she remembers thinking I was 'cute,'" wrote Jost in his autobiography "A Very Punchable Face" (per Brides), "but I know what I looked like and that's not the word I would have used."
Nonetheless, it took Johansson four more SNL appearances and two ill-fated marriages (first with Ryan Reynolds, and later with journalist Romain Dauriac) before her stars would align with Jost's in 2017. During the episode's after-party, scuttlebutt among the A-listers in attendance shifted into overdrive when the two were spotted kissing each other (per The Cut).
A year later, the two moved in together in New York, became engaged the following year, and were married in 2020 in a quirky, private ceremony on board a Staten Island ferry just when the pandemic was unleashing its viral fury. "Even though it was small and intimate, it was beautiful," said Johansson to Seth Meyers. "It felt like it was sort of how it was supposed to be." In 2021, they welcomed son Cosmo into the fold. Johansson also has a daughter, Rose, from her marriage to Dauriac.
Jason Sudeikis had a Wilde relationship
While Jason Sudeikis was nowhere near as publicly prolific as Pete Davidson in the celebrity dating department, the former "Saturday Night Live" player also linked himself with more than one notable guest host, the most recent being Olivia Wilde. Both going through divorces at the time, the two got to know each other at an SNL after-party of an episode that Wilde hosted in 2011, although it took Sudeikis a few months before he first asked her out. Wilde admitted Sudeikis played it cool even while they were dating. "He literally didn't kiss me until the fourth date," Wilde said to Howard Stern. "He finally kissed me and I was like completely head over heels."
The two were engaged in 2013 and have since brought two children into the world. Unfortunately, the duo never married, when it was announced they had split up late in 2020. By that time, Sudeikis was ruling the streaming world with the Apple TV+ hit "Ted Lasso," while Wilde was directing and starring in the movie "Don't Worry Darling," where she hooked up with singer Harry Styles, who was also in the film (per Fox News). The split marked a period of reckoning for Sudeikis who couldn't help but feel philosophical about what went wrong. "You take some responsibility for it, hold yourself accountable for what you do, but then also endeavor to learn something beyond the obvious from it," said Sudeikis to GQ.
Jason Sudeikis was mad about January Jones
Jason Sudeikis started on "Saturday Night Live" as a writer in 2003, before expanding his role to become a player two years later. He was already an audience favorite by 2009 when he first met "Mad Men" star January Jones, who landed a guest-host role on the show that season. Less than a year later, the two were spotted attending the ESPY Awards, where they were seen in a passionate embrace at a post-show bash (per InStyle).
What started after that was a wave of tabloid attention that might have been a bit much for the two, although Sudeikis claimed he kept the whole thing in stride, especially when it came to the welfare of his girlfriend. "I don't know what there is to be protective about," he said to Vanity Fair. "We're dating, she's great. I'm very happy with everything."
But that bliss wasn't about to last long, with the relationship lasting less than a year. With Sudeikis doing SNL in New York and Jones working in Los Angeles, geography killed the romance. "The long distance kind of petered us out," Jones told Allure. "When you date someone else who's in the industry, someone has to make the sacrifices. And if no one's willing to, then you just have to be friends." The scrutiny surrounding the two didn't end there, when Jones had a baby boy months after the breakup. A source told Today that Sudeikis was not the father.
Fred Armisen's marriage gathered no Moss
Fred Armisen's tenure on "Saturday Night Live" demonstrated that he was not only charming and funny, but was a multi-instrumentalist as well. The one thing he couldn't do away from the set was hold down a relationship. That was the case in 2008 when he met "Mad Men" star, Elisabeth Moss, backstage at SNL when her co-star Jon Hamm was guest-hosting. And in the time it took Madison Avenue ad genius Don Draper to down an old-fashioned, the two were swept up in a whirlwind romance. They married in 2009, but divorced less than a year later. While neither partner divulged any specific details, they recalled the relationship was far from rosy.
""Looking back, I feel like I was really young, and at the time I didn't think that I was that young," said Moss to the Los Angeles Times in 2014, long before her acclaimed drama "The Handmaid's Tale" became a hit. "It was extremely traumatic and awful and horrible. At the same time, it turned out for the best."
"I think I was a terrible husband. I think I'm a terrible boyfriend," said Armisen to Howard Stern on Sirius SM in 2013 (per US Magazine). "I feel bad for everyone I've gone out with." Armisen, who since hit TV pay dirt with the series "Portlandia," was previously married to Brit singer-songwriter Sally Timms for six years until 2004, although he confessed the arrangement was more for the musician to get her green card (per AmoMama).
Maya Rudolph landed a famous film director
"Saturday Night Live" expat Mya Rudolph, who has since shot to movie fame via "Bridesmaids" and "Sisters," is reportedly so guarded about her love life, she won't even tell the media how she first got together with her main man director Paul Thomas Anderson. "No, it's a sweet thing... Too personal. I don't want to share it," she said to The Guardian about her initial romance with the man who helmed such hits as "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia." What is known that the two met in 2000 at SNL when Anderson filmed a sketch for an episode that also featured musical guest Fiona Apple, the director's girlfriend at the time (per Distractify). A year later, the two started dating. More than two decades later, that relationship still appears strong with the couple, who still haven't reportedly tied the knot, raising 4 kids.
However tight-lipped she might be about life with Anderson, Rudolph revealed one secret to the relationship's longevity. "I think genuinely like the effort to make an effort," she told US Magazine. "To show up every day is kind of the most romantic part because you can bail at any moment." And while Rudolph seldom lacks for work including an occasional SNL invite to parody Vice President Kamala Harris, it still helps to maintain a relationship with someone in high places. When asked by Vanity Fair how Rudolph landed a part in his recent film "Licorice Pizza," Anderson quipped, "She knows the director."
Dan Aykroyd and Carrie Fisher bonded over the blues
Launched in 1975, the first 5 years of "Saturday Night Live" was permeated with such a wild party vibe, that Lorne Michaels, the show's producer, had to hire a security guard to alert everyone about police approaching the studio (per Ranker). But mixed with all that wafting weed smoke were a few romances waiting for the right kindling. One of them included original cast member Dan Aykroyd and Carrie Fisher who hosted SNL in 1978, when she was still glowing from the superstar aura she received after portraying Princess Leia in the blockbuster first, "Star Wars," the previous year (per People).
While the two hung out with SNL cohort John Belushi during that week on SNL, nothing serious developed between the two. A couple of years later, however, Aykroyd fell in love with Fisher while filming "The Blues Brothers" movie and eventually the two moved in together and became engaged. Sadly, the relationship never saw wedding bells when a few years later, Fisher admitted to her beau that, while staying together in a Martha's Vineyard house that wasn't up to her standards, she was enamored with someone else and broke off the relationship. "Architectural reservations notwithstanding, Carrie wasn't shallow, we had a great time," wrote Ackroyd in a tribute to Fisher (who died in 2016) in Empire. "She was also in love with [singer] Paul Simon. She married him but I hope she kept my ring."
These folks were close, but no cigar...
Honorable mention must go to a few other "Saturday Night Live" hookups that didn't qualify for this segment, just by virtue of star power alone. For openers, SNL alum Bill Hader started dating "Pitch Perfect" actress Anna Kendrick in 2020 while working together on the flick "Noelle," shortly after his relationship with Rachel Bilson ("The O.C.," "The To Do List") went bust. Although Kendrick guest-hosted SNL in 2014, it's not likely they would have run into each other back then, as Hader had already left the show a year earlier (per People). The two split in 2022.
Additionally, cast members weren't the only SNL personnel benefiting from all those celeb appearances. Show producer Lindsay Shookus first met actor Ben Affleck when he hosted an episode in 2015, while he was still married to Jennifer Garner. That relationship fizzled out three years later; an ill-fated reunion between the couple in 2019 lasted only 3 months (per US Magazine).
Far more auspicious is the current relationship between actress Emma Stone and SNL writer Dave McCary, who met the "La La Land" star when she hosted a 2016 episode, and even starred in a sketch he had directed for the show (per Harper's Bazarr). A year later, they started dating until he proposed to the Oscar-winning performer in 2019, fittingly in an SNL office. Two years later, they welcomed a baby girl into the fold and were married in 2022 (per Elle).